Thomson Reuters CEO to move to Toronto, launches tech center

(Reuters) - Thomson Reuters Corp said it plans to create a new technology center in Toronto by hiring 400 people over the next two years, and that its chief executive and chief financial officer will move to the Canadian city in 2017.

CEO Jim Smith and CFO Stephane Bello currently work out of the company's office in Stamford, Connecticut.

Additional management roles will be relocated and recruited locally in Toronto over the next few years, Thomson Reuters said in a statement on Friday.

Smith said in a memo to employees that the company's commitment to centers such as New York, London and Hong Kong "has never been stronger" and the Toronto expansion was in part an opportunity to "take a technology leadership position in the region."

Thomson Reuters was created when Canada's Thomson Corp bought London-based Reuters Group Plc in 2008.

The news and data provider, which currently has 1,200 employees in Canada, said it plans to expand the new Toronto technology center by hiring 1,500 positions over time.

The New York-listed shares of Thomson Reuters fell 0.9 percent to $40.62 by late morning and the Toronto-listed fell 0.7 percent to C$53.78.

Thomson Reuters is the parent of Reuters News.

(Reporting by Jessica Toonkel and Alan Crosby; Editing by Tiffany Wu)