Fintech experts among panel that will choose next FCA chair
Fintech experts such as Ron Kalifa have been chosen to sit on the panel that will choose the next chair of the City watchdog.
The Treasury has begun searching for next permanent chair and has published the job advert for the appointment.
The advisory assessment panel features Ron Kalifa, author of the Kalifa Review into fintech, and Gwyneth Nurse, who has been director of financial services at the Treasury since 2015, making her the public face of government policy for the peer-to-peer lending sector.
Charles Roxburgh, second permanent secretary at the Treasury, will chair the panel, which also features Richard Lloyd OBE and Alison Brittain, chief executive of Whitbread.
Lloyd has been named interim chair of the FCA, replacing outgoing Charles Randell, and will hold the role from 1 June.
He is currently the senior independent director of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) board and is chair of the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority and until 2016 was chief executive of the consumer awareness brand Which?. Lloyd was tipped to be announced as interim chair earlier this week.
Meanwhile, Aidene Walsh, a non-executive director of the Payment Services Regulator (PSR), and an executive director with Banking Competition Remedies, has been appointed as interim chair of the PSR where she will take up the role from 1 April.
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“I would like thank Charles Randell for his leadership of the FCA and PSR during an important and challenging period,” said John Glen, economic secretary to the Treasury.
“I am grateful to Richard Lloyd and Aidene Walsh for agreeing to serve as interim chairs of the FCA and PSR respectively.
“These interim arrangements will ensure a smooth transition following Charles’ departure, and will provide strong leadership whilst the process of appointing permanent successors is completed.
“It is now a pivotal time for the FCA. The next chair will contribute significantly to the success of the UK’s financial services sector and the government looks forward to appointing them in due course.”
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“I am very pleased that both Richard and Aidene have agreed to chair the FCA and PSR boards on an interim basis while the search for my permanent successor concludes,” Randell said.
“I am confident that under their leadership both organisations will continue to deliver on their strategies to become more agile and assertive regulators.”
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“I’m honoured to be asked to be interim chair of the FCA,” said Lloyd.
“The FCA board is hugely grateful to Charles Randell for all that he has done over the last four years as chair. Charles is an outstanding public servant who has worked tirelessly to support consumers and businesses through the most turbulent of times.
“Under his leadership, wide-ranging improvements to the way the FCA does its job are already making a positive difference for the financial services industry and millions of people’s lives.”
In October, Randell announced that he would be stepping down as chair of the FCA and PSR in Spring 2022.
At the time, investors in collapsed P2P platforms called upon the City watchdog to hire “a very different” kind of chair when replacing him.