BUZZ-Hargreaves Lansdown: CFO departure rattles stock
** News HL's CFO to leave sends stock to bottom of FTSE 100 in heavy volume
** Co said Fri afternoon Tracey Taylor had decided to step down from role with immediate effect
** Taylor to remain with Hargreaves until end-June to ensure smooth transition; Simon Cleveland, partner in accountancy firm Deloitte, takes over as interim CFO from today
** Announcement struck strange chord with some analysts due to timing (late in Fri session), giving appearance of being hasty
** Jason Streets, analyst at Jefferies & Co, was reassured after speaking to HL, saying he suspected it was one of those things where "there is less to it than meets the eye"
** Streets flagged up that his discussion with co revealed that Cleveland, the interim CFO, is well acquainted with HL
** Stock shed just 0.3 pct on Fri, but selling pressure increased on Mon when it dropped as much as 5.3 pct
** Busiest stock on FTSE 100 with 3/4 of daily avg volume already gone through (RM (LSE: RM.L - news) : tricia.wright1.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net)