The chair of stock exchange operator ASX, Rick Holliday-Smith, says he is leaning towards local candidates in the search to find a replacement for Elmer Funke Kupper given the company's position in a highly regulated and often politicised industry. 
It has been three weeks since Mr Funke Kupper resigned after allegations he knew of a $200,000 payment to the family of Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen made by gaming giant Tabcorp when he was chief executive.
Mr Holliday-Smith, who has worked in the United States and Europe in a range of financial services roles, said "the Australian fabric is very different".
"Someone's got to understand the nuances and the relationships with the regulators, which is really important, and they've got to understand how the Australian marketplace works," he told Fairfax Media. "All of those things would probably suggest it's highly likely to be an Australian candidate but that doesn't mean that there isn't an international candidate that has got all that relevant experience somewhere else."
After completing a painstaking process with the board to identify the qualities required by candidates who might lead the ASX, Mr Holliday-Smith said he was days away from appointing a headhunter.
He contracted an external consultant after Mr Funke Kupper's resignation to interview each of the Sydney-based company's directors to determine the "capabilities, character style and business experience" they wanted in the new CEO.
From the discussion with directors the consultant has created a "super-human profile" of about 25 characteristics a new CEO might possess, which "is sitting on my desk at the moment".
He has asked each of the eight ASX directors, including business heavyweights such as RBA board member Heather Ridout and National Australia Bank chairman Ken Henry, to rank each of the qualities to identify "five or six that are really important".
Then it will be up to a headhunter to offer up the right candidates. The company previously used the firm Russell Reynolds to bring in Mr Funke Kupper.
Mr Holliday-Smith said he hopes to have the CEO in place within three to nine months. "I'm hoping it's at the shorter end of that."