Gerald Putnam, chairman and chief executive of Archipelago Holdings, which controls ArcaEx the electronic communications network, faces a $2.5m (€1.9m) fine after a US civil jury recommended he compensate a former business partner for the "usurpation of corporate opportunities".

Dow Jones Newswires report that in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the US regulator, Archipelago said that should Putnam have to pay compensation, he might have to satisfy it "through the sale of a portion of his common stock".