Three new Chairmen have been appointed to the independent Panels which lead the process for constructive challenge of the Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA’s) policies and practices from the point of view of regulated firms.
The appointments are as follows:
FCA Practitioner Panel Chairman – Graham Beale, Chief Executive of Nationwide Building Society
FCA Smaller Business Practitioner Panel Chairman – Andrew Turberville Smith, Finance Director and Chief Operating Officer of Weatherbys Bank
FCA Markets Practitioner Panel Chairman – Paul Swann, President and Managing Director, ICE Clear Europe
All three Practitioner Panels will have an important statutory role in providing input and challenge at an early stage to policy developments for the FCA. It is on the basis of the valuable input of the previous Financial Services Authority (FSA) Practitioner Panels, that the Government took the decision to create three Practitioner Panels for the FCA.
In addition, two new appointments have recently been made to the Practitioner Panel, to replace former members. Alison Brittain, Group Director of Retail at Lloyds Banking Group, and Michael Dobson, Chief Executive of Schroders have both joined the Practitioner Panel this year, in readiness for transfer to the FCA Practitioner Panel.
John Griffith-Jones, chairman designate of the FCA said:
“I am delighted that we have been able to make such strong appointments to these valuable roles. The Panels provide an injection of senior industry expertise and opinions directly in to the FCA Board’s deliberations. We are grateful to the previous Chairmen of the FSA Panels, Joe Garner and Guy Matthews who had both agreed to stay on until the end of the FSA and are handing over Panels with a respected track record to the new Financial Conduct Authority.”
NOTES FOR EDITORS
Under Financial Services Act 2012, the FCA is required to set up a Practitioner Panel, Smaller Business Practitioner Panel and Markets Practitioner Panel – as well as a Consumer Panel. The panels are set up represent the interests of their constituents and provide independent views to the FCA. The majority of the current members of the Practitioner Panel and Smaller Businesses Practitioner Panel will transfer to the FCA Panels, with a new Panel being created as the Markets Practitioner Panel.
In accordance with statute, the decisions to appoint the Chairmen of the Panels have been made by the FCA transitional Board and approved by HM Treasury.
Graham Beale has been Chief Executive of Nationwide Building Society since April 2007, and in his first year oversaw the successful merger with Portman Building Society. Since then he has embarked on an ambitious transformation programme affecting all parts of the Nationwide Group. He has been a member of the Financial Services Practitioner Panel – representing Building Societies – since August 2011. He is also a member of the Executive Council of the Building Societies Association (BSA) and Chairman of the BSA Remuneration and Nomination Committee.
Andrew Turberville Smith is Finance Director and Chief Operating Officer of Weatherbys Bank. He has been on the Board of Weatherbys Bank – a traditional family owned private bank – since 2006. Andrew originally qualified as a chartered accountant with Price Waterhouse in London. He then spent over 10 years in investment banking in London before moving into operational roles in insurance broking and latterly banking. Andrew has been a member of the FSA’s Smaller Businesses Practitioner Panel since 2009, representing smaller banks.
Paul Swann is the President and Managing Director of ICE Clear Europe, the wholly-owned European clearing house of IntercontinentalExchange (NYSE: ICE). He has been Deputy Chairman of the FSA Practitioner Panel, having been a serving member since November 2010. He is a frequent commentator and speaker on risk and central counterparty issues. Mr. Swann has over 20 years’ experience in European derivatives and equities clearing, and prior to joining ICE, he was most recently Managing Director, Group Risk and Managing Director, Change for LCH.Clearnet Ltd.
Alison Brittain joined Lloyds Banking Group in September 2011. Alison is Group Director of Retail, responsible for the largest retail banking network in the UK with c 43k employees serving over 30 million customers. Alison leads the Lloyds TSB, Halifax and Bank of Scotland community banks, telephony channels, direct business banking and retail customer products business units. She recently took responsibility across the Group for Brands, Marketing and Digital Banking. Before moving to Lloyds she worked at Santander; her last role was Executive Director for Retail Distribution at Santander UK. Previously, Alison held various senior roles during her twenty years at Barclays including Managing Director of Barclays & Woolwich Retail Network, Managing Director of Barclays Small Business Banking and Chief Operating Officer of Premier Banking.
Michael Dobson joined the Board of Schroders as a non-executive Director in April 2001, and became Chief Executive in November of that year. Previously, Michael was chief executive of Morgan Grenfell Group and a Member of the Board of Managing Directors of Deutsche Bank AG. He is a member of the Independent Compensation Review Panel (ICRP) of Deutsche Bank.
The FSA regulates the financial services industry and has four objectives under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000: maintaining market confidence; securing the appropriate degree of protection for consumers; fighting financial crime; and contributing to the protection and enhancement of the stability of the UK financial system.
The FSA will be replaced by the Financial Conduct Authority and Prudential Regulation Authority in 2013 as required by the Financial Services Act 2012.