FCA brings in six directors and hires ‘almost 500’ to meet expanding remit
The City watchdog said today it had bolstered its senior leadership team and hired almost 500 people in the past six months as it races to keep up with a rapidly expanding remit.
In a statement today, the Financial Conduct Authority said it had hired executives to take on oversight of areas including consumer finance, payments and digital assets, and retail and regulatory investigations, in a mixture of “new and existing roles”.
FCA boss Nikhil Rathi said the hiring push was needed to meet the demands of its remit and deliver on the regulator’s new strategy, revealed in April.
‘As our remit grows and to deliver on our ambitious strategy, we’re continuing to develop and bring in the skills and talent we need,” he said.
“My Executive Committee colleagues and I are delighted to announce the latest additions to our leadership team, who will each bring deep expertise and broad experience to the FCA.”
The new hires include Matthew Long, who has been appointed as Director of Payments and Digital Assets, a new role overseeing the watchdog’s newly added responsibility overseeing crypto-asset. e-money, payment and leading policy development.
Camille Blackburn has been brought into a new role of Director of Wholesale Buy-Side, overseeing policy development and the supervision of asset management, alternative investments, custody banks and investment research.
The watchdog has come under fire from some quarters in the past six months for its capacity and ability to meet the demands of its expanding regulatory perimeter.
Founder of fintech giant Nikolay Storonsky said he believed short staffing at the FCA was part of the reason his firm’s progress towards a banking licence had been slower than expected.
“You can hear in the media, all kinds of news about FCA – I think they’re experiencing some kind of short staff. As a result the setup process on their sides is slower compared to expectations,” he told CIty A.M.
The FCA rejected the claims to City PM in June, saying it had “successfully recruited across the organisation” to meet its “expanding remit”.
It has also been peppered by a succession of strike in the past six months, with around 240 of the regulator’s 4000 staff walking out in May over changes to pay and perks.
Staff have called off further industrial action this week after officers at the Unite union said that recognition was “back on the table”.
The watchdog further backed bringing ESG ratings and data within its remit last week in abid to clampdown on greenwashing in investment labelling.