Former City lawyer Charles Randell has been appointed as the new chair of the Financial Conduct Authority, taking over from John Griffith-Jones.
Randell, who takes the role from 1st April, is currently an external member of the Prudential Regulation Committee of the Bank of England and a non-executive board member of the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy.
The appointment is for a five year term.
Randell worked at solicitors Slaughter and May from 1980 to 2013, becoming a partner in 1989. He specialised in corporate finance law, and worked on financial stability and bank restructuring assignments.
He advised HM Treasury on the resolutions of Northern Rock, Bradford & Bingley and the Icelandic banks, the Government’s investments into RBS and the merged Lloyds/HBOS, and the Asset Protection Scheme. He also advised the Portuguese Ministry of Finance on the recapitalisation of the Portuguese banking sector.
He is a member of the Prudential Regulation Committee of the Bank of England, a non-executive director and chair of Audit and Risk Assurance Committee, Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy; and a Visiting Fellow in financial services regulation at Queen Mary University of London.
Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond says: “I am delighted to appoint Charles Randell as Chair of the FCA. Charles has a wealth of relevant experience, and I am sure that he will prove to be a strong leader at this very important time.
“I would like to thank the outgoing Chair, John Griffith-Jones, for his service. He has been instrumental in establishing the FCA and PSR as highly effective organisations which are critical parts of the UK financial regulatory system. I wish him all the best for the future.”
Griffith-Jones says: “I am delighted that Charles Randell has been appointed as my successor and I wish him every success in the role.”
FCA chief executive Andrew Bailey says: “I am very pleased to welcome Charles to the FCA. His experience of regulation, both during the financial crisis and more recently as a member of the Prudential Regulation Committee, mean that he has a strong understanding of the challenges that the FCA faces and I look forward to tackling these with him in his new role.”
