OBIE adds CMA executive to its board as it seeks more NEDs
The Open Banking Implementation Entity (OBIE) has appointed Jeremy Newman to its board as a non-executive director (NED), as it seeks to add more directors amid an organisational restructure.
Newman will join on a six-month fixed-term contract, and he will provide governance support to the OBIE, including independent scrutiny and oversight of the organisation. He is also expected to play a pivotal role in supporting recently-appointed OBIE chair Charlotte Crosswell.
Newman is a panel member of the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA). He is a qualified chartered accountant and holds positions on a range of public, private and not-for-profit sector organisations, including the Social Investment Business Foundation and Social and Sustainable Capital.
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Until recently, he was a non-executive member of the boards of the government legal department and the Crown Prosecution Service. He is also an honorary visiting professor at Cass Business School.
Newman’s appointment is the first of several actions being taken as a priority to address the findings and recommendations of an independent investigation which was highly critical of the culture at the OBIE.
Following the publication of the report, Imran Gulamhuseinwala resigned as trustee and chair of the OBIE and former Innovate Finance chief executive Crosswell was named as his replacement.
Crosswell has promised to improve the OBIE’s culture, and vowed to add more non-executive directors to the board as a matter of priority, to provide appropriate independent scrutiny and oversight.
An open recruitment process to appoint additional independent NEDs is currently underway, led by executive search firm Moloney Search.
The OBIE is an independent organisation that, following an order by the CMA, was set up in 2017 by the nine largest retail banks in the UK to implement open banking.
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