Government announces CEO-designate of new Consumer Protection and Markets Authority
The Government today announced that Martin Wheatley will become chief executive designate of the Consumer Protection and Markets Authority.
The Government today announced that Martin Wheatley will become chief executive designate of the Consumer Protection and Markets Authority (CPMA). He will be formally appointed to the post of chief executive once the new body has been established at the end of 2012.
As part of this, the Financial Services Authority (FSA) also announced today that Mr Wheatley has been appointed as a new managing director of the FSA’s consumer and markets business unit from 1 September 2011. He will work with the current FSA executive team to prepare for the transition from the FSA to the new regulatory structure. When he takes up this post, the Government will appoint him to the Board of the FSA.
The CPMA will have the primary objective of promoting confidence in financial services and markets, with particular focus on ensuring that consumers of financial services are protected and that financial markets work effectively.
These changes are part of the wider reform of the financial regulatory system set out by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne, in his Mansion House speech last summer. The Government will set out further detailed proposals on financial regulation reform in a consultation to be launched later this month. Following this consultation, the Government intends to publish a draft Bill in the Spring for pre-legislative scrutiny, before the Bill is formally introduced into Parliament.
The Government aims to establish the new regulatory structure by the end of 2012. Subject to Parliamentary timetabling, legislation will be introduced later this year and should achieve Royal Assent in mid-2012.
Financial Secretary to the Treasury, Mark Hoban said:
I am very pleased that Mr Wheatley has agreed to join the FSA to help it transition to the new CPMA. He will help shape the new body to be an effective and focused conduct of business regulator, ensuring that consumers of financial services are protected and financial markets work effectively.
This appointment is a key step in the establishment of the CPMA. Mr Wheatley is a widely respected regulator and extremely well-qualified to take on this vital role. His responsibilities in Hong Kong have included dealing with complex retail and wholesale market issues in one of the world’s leading international financial centres. He also has a strong track record in protecting consumers, for example dealing with the investment product mis-selling which has emerged in Hong Kong in the wake of the collapse of Lehman Brothers in late 2008.
FSA chairman, Adair Turner said:
Martin brings a wealth of global regulatory managerial and markets experience and I am confident he will be an excellent CEO of the CPMA. He will join us on 1 September and will play a key role in shaping the design of the CPMA, including a new philosophy of consumer protection.
Martin Wheatley said:
I am delighted to join the FSA and the future CPMA and look forward to working with the Bank of England and the Treasury to create the new regulatory structure.
Notes for Editors
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Martin Wheatley joins the Financial Services Authority (FSA) after six years with the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) in Hong Kong, where he is now Chief Executive Officer. Before joining the SFC, Wheatley was Deputy Chief Executive of the London Stock Exchange and was also Chairman of the FTSE International. He also sat on the FSA’s Listing Authority Advisory Committee.
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The Government intends to introduce legislation to create the new regulatory authorities in the current Parliamentary session, and expects passage of primary legislation to be completed by the end of 2012. The FSA will retain its current responsibilities throughout the transition period. The FSA intends to move to separate conduct and prudential regulation in shadow form in the first quarter of 2011.
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The Coalition Government’s Programme for Government set out the following action on financial regulatory reform: “We will reform the regulatory system to avoid a repeat of the financial crisis. We will bring forward proposals to give the Bank of England control of macro-prudential regulation and oversight of micro-prudential regulation.”
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In his Mansion House speech on 16 June 2010, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne, outlined the Government’s plans for reforming the regulatory system, including the creation of an independent Financial Policy Committee at the Bank of England, a new prudential regulator, and a new consumer protection and markets authority.
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