Advisory Group - Transparency Task Force

Introduction

The Transparency Task Force has established an Advisory Group.

The first significant step forward was a meeting held in London on 26th June 2018, where several individuals met to discuss ideas on how the Group would function.

The slides used at the meeting can be downloaded by clicking on the PDF icon below:

Slides used at the meeting about the development of TTF’s Advisory Board held on 26th June 2018
Advisory Board, PDF of slides used on 26[…]
Adobe Acrobat document [46.5 MB]

John Howard appointed Chair

Subsequent to the 26th June meeting John Howard become the Chair of the Advisory Group, as explained in the press release below…

Press Release issued 8th August 2018

John Howard to become the Founding Chair of the Transparency Task Force’s new Advisory Board

John Howard, Former Chair of the Financial Conduct Authority’s Financial Services Consumer Panel is to become the Founding Chair of the Transparency Task Force’s new Advisory Board.

The Transparency Task Force (‘TTF’) is the collaborative, campaigning community, dedicated to driving up the levels of transparency in financial services, right around the world. It currently has 39 ambassadors and over 300 volunteer members from across the UK and global financial services sector.

John Howard joined the BBC as one of the leading voices on Radio 4. He presented documentaries, phone-ins and discussion programmes, winning several awards. He became best known as the consumer’s champion on the daily magazine programme ‘You and Yours’, which he presented for 14 years.

In 1997 he was invited to join the Mortgage Code Compliance Board as an independent director. He subsequently became a member of the Financial Services Consumer Panel, which he chaired for 3 years until 2008.

Between 2006 and 2008 he was a member of the Market Participants Group of CESR, the European committee of securities regulators, and he also joined the Treasury’s Retail Financial Services Group. On stepping down from the Consumer Panel, he joined the Board of the Financial Ombudsman Service and also became a Non Executive Director of the energy Regulator, Ofgem.

In 2010 he was appointed as an Independent Commissioner by the Treasury for the Equitable Life Payments Commission. He served on the With Profits Committee and the Independent Governance Committee of Scottish Widows. He was a Trustee of the Thalidomide Trust. He is currently Vice Chair and Senior Independent Director of the Family Building Society and a Non Executive Director of the Banking Competition Remedies Company. He is Chief Executive of the company he founded, Consumer Insights, which provides advice on principles based regulation and fairness in the financial, energy and water sectors.

Andy Agathangelou, Founding Chair of the Transparency Task Force commented:

“The Transparency Task Force has been building momentum as a force for good in the financial services sector for over three years now, helping to ensure that consumers get treated fairly. We are a collaborative community that is being taken seriously by Regulators, Trade Bodies, Professional Associations, Civil Society Groups and all the key actors in this space; and we have grown to the point that an Advisory Board is now needed to formally shape our purpose and strategy moving forward.

Andy Agathangelou continues, “It is important that we assemble a great team and all great teams need a great leader. All those who know John Howard will immediately understand why he is the perfect person to take on such an important role for us. He has had an authentic, high-profile, pro-consumer world view for decades. We are honoured that John wants to help lead us forward.”

Talking about his new appointment, John Howard said:

“There can be no doubt that the financial ecosystem is profoundly important to the wellbeing of society, the global economy and political stability; so it has always been obvious to me that consumers must get treated fairly. The Transparency Task Force has got off to a very good start and I am pleased to have the opportunity to help take it to the next level.

“We are going to be busy recruiting members for the Advisory Board and I’m pleased to say there is healthy interest in this development, with many people volunteering to help the Transparency Task Force realise its full potential as a force for good. The idea of a pro-consumer community that works collaboratively to make the financial services sector fairer, more transparent, more trustworthy and thereby more successful resonates with many people in the sector; and so it should. Anybody interested in helping should get in touch.”

Establishing the membership of the Advisory Group

The next major step was for John Howard to selectively reach out to key individuals to recruit members of the Advisory Board.

We were delighted with how that went; here they are:

Clare Spottiswoode, CBE

NED and Remco Chair of RBC Europe, RBC

"Comment to follow"

David Masters

Partner and Director, Lansons

David Pitt-Watson

Visiting Fellow, Cambridge Judge Business School

David is Co-Author of ‘The Purpose of Finance’, ‘What they do with your Money’ and several other books. He Co-Chaired the United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative, and led the Royal Society of Arts Tomorrow's Investor Project. David is the Treasurer of Oxfam, a Board-member at NESTA and is recognised globally as a leading thinker and practitioner in the field of responsible investment and business practice. David is a winner of the Transparency Trophy and his ground-breaking work on 'Purpose' was the initial inspiration behind the creation of Team PISCES. David is a frequent speaker at TTF events.

Greg LeRoy

Executive Director, Good Jobs First

Dubbed “the leading national watchdog of state and local economic development subsidies,” Greg founded Good Jobs First in 1998. He has been training and consulting for state and local governments, associations of public officials, labor-management committees, unions, community groups, tax and budget watchdogs, environmentalists, and smart growth advocates more than 30 years. Since its first report in 1999, Good Jobs First has issued more than 120 studies, setting a long string of influential research precedents about economic development subsidies. Greg backed into subsidy reform accidentally, while creating a national consulting practice against plant closings from Chicago from the mid-1980s to mid-1990s. Collecting the reforms prompted by these revelations (clawbacks, disclosure, job quality standards, etc.), Greg wrote No More Candy Store: States and Cities Making Job Subsidies Accountable in 1994. Greg’s 2005 book The Great American Jobs Scam: Corporate Tax Dodging and the Myth of Job Creation (Berrett-Koehler Publishers) was widely reviewed by daily newspapers, specialty tax and development publications, C-Span’s Book TV, The New York Review of Books, Publishers Weekly and Library Journal. Business Week called it a “powerful compendium of corporate tax dodging in the U.S.” In 2015, State Tax Notes magazine lauded Good Jobs First for perhaps its biggest victory ever: the issuance of Governmental Accounting Standards Board Statement 77 on Tax Abatement Disclosures, which requires states and most local governments to report how much revenue they lose to economic development tax breaks. A landmark in municipal finance, it remains the only kind of tax expenditure ever to be defined and codified by GASB.

JB Beckett

UK Director, Association of Professional Fund Investors

Affectionately known as JB, Jon Beckett was a well known and outspoken professional fund investor and analyst for two decades until he retired in 2018 including the world’s largest single asset mandate (£189bn) for Lloyds Banking Group where he was also co-Lead if it’s Responsible Investing framework for the Insurance division. As a Non Executive Director (NED) JB continues to be a vocal campaigner for better fund governance and value. A campaigner for professionalism and better standards in fund investing and due diligence; as Emeritus of the Association of Professional Fund Investors he previously led a global team to tackle issues arising from transparency, sustainability and technology. As Author of ‘#NewFundOrder’ and Co-Author of ‘The WealthTec Book’ and ‘Paytech Book’ JB has been a thought leader in the digitalisation and sustainability of asset management, speaking and writing globally. A dedicated educator, JB is a guest lecturer at Stirling and Herriot Watt Universities and has written textbooks up to NQ Level 7 for the Chartered Institute for Securities and Investments, with which he is Chartered and a member of its disciplinary panel. He is a member of the Stirling Student Investment Managed Fund oversight committee and a NED for Royal London and SVM Limited. "I’m excited to be a part of TTF’s Advisory Board. This is a great opportunity to lead and reform the asset management industry. Finance is capable of delivering a sustainable and purposeful capital model yet frequently falls short of the fiduciary test when poor practises are left to fester in the shadows."

Lesley Curwen

Award winning Journalist

Louise Baxter-Scott MBE

Co CEO, Consumer Friend

Louise graduated with a law degree in 2001. In 2002, she started work for East Sussex Trading Standards. From there, she was promoted through the ranks and in 2009, she was appointed as a Senior Manager. Louise is a consumer champion and an expert in consumer vulnerability. In September 2023 she was appointed at a Non Exec Director for the Property Ombudsman Service and the Chair of the Consumer Forum. Louise is past Chair and Non Exec Director for the Chartered Trading Standards Institute (2020-2023) . Louise was a Board member of the Advisory Board for Safer Gambling for the Gambling Commission from November 2018 until March 2022. Louise also sits on the Consumer Panel for Phone-Paid Services Authority. Louise is an expert in consumer vulnerability, regulation, fraud and scams. Louise was awarded an MBE for protecting vulnerable consumers from financial abuse in 2017.

Louise Dolan

Senior Director, Camarco

Mark Bishop

Leader, Connaught Action Group

Mark advises the Transparency Task Force leadership team on strategy matters. Having entered the world of financial services consumer advocacy in 2012 as de facto leader of the Connaught Action Group and member of the liquidators' committee of the Connaught Income Fund Series 1, Mark now works with the principals of other action groups and lobbies regulators and politicians to improve the regulatory environment. Having worked as a journalist, media company executive, strategy consultant and corporate finance advisor, Mark holds an MBA from Cranfield University School of Management (where he is now a Visiting Fellow) and sits on the Advisory Board of the MBA programme at Sussex University, where he gained his first degree. He is also the author of a business book, The Future of Private Equity - Beyond the Mega Buy-Out.

Martin White

Board Member, UK Shareholders Association

Martin studied electrical engineering at university, then decided to become an actuary. He started work at a life insurance and savings company, followed by a consulting actuarial firm advising on final salary pensions (yes, it was some time ago). Then he moved into general insurance, being the first actuary to be employed by the Corporation of Lloyd’s, and has worked in general insurance ever since. He is an active contributor to the research work of the actuarial profession. Sometime in 1992 Martin spotted a letter in the FT by Donald Butcher about a small new working group of private investors, contacted Donald and joined the working group which subsequently became the UK Shareholders’ Association. His experience within the financial sector has taught him what a bad deal individual savers get, unless they are particularly well informed and know how to avoid or minimise expenses and charges. This situation is not going to improve unless these messages are more widely understood and acted on. Apart from this, his other big concern is the lack of real pressure on company managements to act in the long term interest of their underlying owners. In 2022, Martin won the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries Frank Redington prize for an essay on how regulation does not really put the interests of financial consumers first, which emphasised the important contribution retired people with the necessary knowledge can make to inform the public about the truths that the financial sector continues to suppress. Details of this can easily be found on the UKSA web site.

Mike O'Dwyer

Project Director, EntrepeneursHub

Roger Mullin

Founder, www.TheBottomLine.scot

Roger is one of the founders of recently launched think tank www.TheBottomLine.scot which produces economic analysis related to the constitutional question in Scotland. He is also chair of the humanitarian organisation REVIVE Campaign CIC which campaigns on behalf of the victims of landmines and improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and which provides support to two APPGs at Westminster. Roger is a former member of parliament for Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath. During his period as an MP, Roger was a treasury spokesperson and led a range of parliamentary campaigns for greater transparency and ethics in the financial system. He succeeded in moving the UK government to hold an inquiry and make some all too modest changes to Scottish Limited Partnerships which continue to be a vehicle for international criminality and money laundering. His parliamentary campaigning on SLPs is discussed in Oliver Bullough’s book “Butler To The World”. He continues the fight. Roger has written on the need to tackle the culture of financial institutions including banks, addressing in particular failings in ethics. He has written on such matters for the likes of International Banker , The Herald and The National. Roger is also an Honorary Professor at the University of Stirling, where he has lectured on ethical finance as part of the university’s MSc in Strategic Sustainable Business. He has also taught Applied Decision Theory and related ethical questions on a range of post graduate programmes. He is a former chair of the university’s joint departmental research ethics committee in which capacity he undertook ethical reviews of research proposals. Roger is an experienced conference and after dinner speaker. He is happy to engage in discussion and can be contacted by email at roger.mullin2@email.com

Stephen McPartland

Former Conservative MP for Stevenage

Steve Kenzie

Executive Director, UN Global Compact UK

Steve has managed the Secretariat of the UN Global Compact Network UK since 2008, connecting UK companies and other organisations in a global movement dedicated to driving corporate sustainability and the Sustainable Development Goals. He also Chairs UNGC’s Global Network Council and sits on the UN Global Compact Board. He was previously a Programme Director at the International Business Leaders Forum (IBLF) leading projects across a wide range of responsible business issue areas. Prior to joining IBLF, Steve was the founder and Managing Director of a successful retail sports equipment business in Canada. He has a B.Comm from the University of British Columbia and an MSc in Business & Environment from Imperial College London. “I’m pleased to be a part of TTF’s Advisory Board because I believe TTF can be an effective driver of much needed change in the financial services sector."

Sue Flood

Leader of the Ark Pension Scam Group, Director of Reborn Recycling

Sue has worked in the Television Industry since 2001, starting out at Television Centre and progressing through a successful TV programme-making career that included various roles such as Researcher for Top of the Pops, Celebrity Guest Liaison, Location Sourcing, Production Budget, Sales and Promotions (including through BBC Worldwide with responsibility for selling all BBC Programmes to all 130 Global TV Stations Worldwide). Her roles at the BBC meant she worked with a wide range of household name VIP celebrities including Muhammed Ali, Robert Redford, Mel Gibson, Richard Gere, Terry Wogan, Chevy Chase, Joan Collins, David Bowie, Cher, Bob Monkhouse, Madonna, Kylie Minogue, Tom Jones, Debbie Harry, Donna Summer, Linda Ronstadt, Stevie Nicks, Van Morrison, Seal, Bryan Adams, Bette Midler, Lenny Kravitz, Mariah Carey, Cliff Richard, Paul Weller, Bruce Springsteen, Jamiroquai, Robbie Williams, The Spice Girls, Rowan Atkinson, Kate Bush, Joanna Lumley, Queen, Elton John, UB40, The Who, Rod Stewart, various Presidents of the United States of America and many, many more. Sue has also had senior roles at BUT Music Group, and her volunteer roles have included raising awareness for disabled models for inclusion in the Fashion, Industry and raising awareness for retired Polo Ponies with CEO Sarah Coleman. More recently, Sue flood has become a key figure in helping to prevent people falling victim to pension fraudsters, having become a victim herself. Sue lost here entire pension fund; along with over 500 other victims of the Ark Pension Scandal. Her response was to set up a campaign group which she has tirelessly supported ever since. She is now also involved in supporting numerous other pension scam victims and pension scam support groups. She has unique insight and experience in the pensions scam prevention and support space and her relentless campaigning has led to interaction with the House of Commons, the House of Lords and the Financial Conduct Authority – watch this space. Sue is also highly supportive of the Transparency Task Force; for which she is an Ambassador and a member of the Transparency Task Force Advisory Board.

Sue Lewis

Trustee Director, The People's Pension

Sue is an independent Board member and consultant. She is a Trustee Director at The People’s Pension, a leading UK multi-employer scheme. She is also a Trustee of UK national charities StepChange debt charity, the FairBanking Foundation and Surviving Economic Abuse. Until December 2018, Sue chaired the Financial Services Consumer Panel, an independent statutory body that advises the UK Financial Conduct Authority on consumer issues in financial services regulation. Sue is a member representative on the EIOPA Occupational Pensions Stakeholder Group, and was previously a member of of the European Commission’s Financial Services User Group. She is also a consultant specialising in financial education, financial inclusion and consumer protection regulation, working with international organisations such as the OECD and Alliance for Financial Inclusion. Sue was previously a senior civil servant, working in HM Treasury, the Cabinet Office and Department for Education. Sue has a B.Sc degree in Mathematics and a Masters degree in Statistical Methods.

Yvonne Fovargue

Former Labour MP for Makerfield

Inaugural Meeting

The inaugural meeting of TTF’s Advisory Board took place on 25th September 2018, as explained in the press release below:

Press Release issued 26th September 2018

Transparency Task Force Announces Advisory Board

The Transparency Task Force (‘TTF’) yesterday held the Inaugural Meeting of its Advisory Board in the heart of the City of London.

TTF is the collaborative, campaigning community, dedicated to driving up the levels of transparency in financial services, right around the world. It currently has 45 ambassadors and over 350 volunteer members from across the UK and global financial services sector.

Chairman of TTF’s Advisory Board, John Howard (former Chair of the FCA’s Financial Services Consumer Panel and presenter of BBC Radio 4’s pro-consumer You and Yours programme) has described the Advisory Board as a ‘Dream Team’.

Talking about the Advisory Board, John Howard said:

“There is a universal shared interest in having a transparent and fair financial services sector that works hard to deliver value for money to consumers whilst also encouraging changes in the behaviour of market participants that will rebuild trust. It is therefore only right and proper that the Transparency Task Force’s Advisory Board be highly diverse but totally united in wanting to positively reform the system.

“We have deliberately set out to create an ‘all walks of life’ Board and we’re confident we have done that. The Board’s diversity has already led to meaningful discussion and debate, for example in exploring key questions such as what the Transparency Task Force should aspire to become. In my view, the organisation has enormous potential as a force for good and for the sake of the integrity of the financial system we have a collective duty to realise as much of that potential as possible. We are all volunteers in the wider TTF community, who are motivated to initiate a much-needed cultural shift in financial services.”

The members of the Advisory Board are:

David Pitt-Watson, Visiting Fellow at Cambridge Judge Business School
David Weeks, Co-Chair, Association of Member Nominated Trustees
Gavin Starks, Founder of Dgen
Heather Buchanan, Policy Director, APPG on Fairer Business Banking
JB Beckett, UK Director, Association of Professional Fund Investors
John Howard, Director, Consumer Insights; Chair
Steve Kenzie, Executive Director for United Nations Global Compact, UK Network
Susan Flood, ARK Campaign Group
Sue Lewis
David Masters, Director at Lansons

Advisory Group Inaugural Meeting Agenda

Time and place:

16:00 to 18:00 (with optional networking and refreshments after) on Tuesday 25thSeptember at the Board Room of Newgate Communications, Sky Light City Tower,50 Basinghall Street, London EC2V 5DE

Proposed agenda:

1. Introductions

2. General thoughts about the TTF – open discussion

3. General thoughts about what the TTF should aspire to become – open discussion

4. General thoughts on what the TTF Advisory Board should focus on – open discussion

5. AOB – open discussion

5. Scheduling the next meeting

6. Confirmation of agreed actions, if any

7. Optional networking and refreshments through to 18:30

MEETING NOTES

4th June 2024

TTF Advisory Group Meeting Notes
TTF Advisory Group Meeting Notes June 2024

7th May 2024

TTF Advisory Group Meeting Notes
TTF Advisory Group Meeting Notes May 2024

2nd April 2024

TTF Advisory Group Meeting Notes
TTF Advisory Group Meeting Notes April 2024

5th March 2024

TTF Advisory Group Meeting Notes
TTF Advisory Group Meeting Notes March 2024

6th November 2023

TTF Advisory Group Meeting Notes
TTF Advisory Group Meeting Notes November 2023

2nd October 2023

TTF Advisory Group Meeting Notes
TTF Advisory Group Meeting Notes October 2023

4th September 2023

TTF Advisory Group Meeting Notes
TTF Advisory Group Meeting Notes September 2023

7th August 2023

TTF Advisory Group Meeting Notes
TTF Advisory Group Meeting Notes August 2023

3rd July 2023

TTF Advisory Group Meeting Notes
TTF Advisory Group Meeting Notes July 3rd 2023

5th June 2023

TTF Advisory Group Meeting Notes
TTF Advisory Group Meeting Notes June 5th 2023

6th March 2023

TTF Advisory Group Meeting Notes
TTF Advisory Group Meeting Notes March 6th 2023

8th December 2022

TTF Advisory Group Meeting Notes
TTF Advisory Group Meeting Notes December 8th 2022

13th October 2022

TTF Advisory Group Meeting Notes
TTF Advisory Group Meeting Notes October 13th 2022

11th August 2022

TTF Advisory Group Meeting Notes
TTF Advisory Group Meeting Notes August 11th 2022

9th June 2022

TTF Advisory Group Meeting Notes
TTF Advisory Group Meeting Notes June 9th 2022

14th April 2022

TTF Advisory Group Meeting Notes
TTF Advisory Group Meeting Notes 14th April 2022

10th February 2022

TTF Advisory Group Meeting Notes
TTF Advisory Group Meeting Notes 10th February 2022

6th October 2021

TTF Advisory Group Meeting Notes
Advisory Group meeting notes 6th October 2021

7th July 2021

TTF Advisory Group Meeting Notes
Advisory Group meeting notes 7th July 2021

28th April 2021

TTF Advisory Group Meeting Notes
Advisory Group meeting 28th April 2021

Adobe Acrobat document [115.1 KB]

22nd October 2020

TTF Advisory Board Meeting Notes
TTF Advisory Group meeting, 22nd October 2020
Adobe Acrobat document [115.1 KB]

22nd January 2020

TTF Advisory Board Meeting Notes
TTF Advisory Board meeting 22nd January
Adobe Acrobat document [115.1 KB]

25th September 2019

TTF Advisory Board Meeting Notes
TTF Advisory Board meeting 25th September
Adobe Acrobat document [115.1 KB]

15th May 2019

15th May 2019 Advisory Board Meeting Notes
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15th January 2019

TTF Advisory Board Meeting of 15th January 2019, minutes
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25th September 2018

TTF Advisory Board meeting of 25th September 2018, minutes
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TTF + Newgate Communications White Paper on Rebuilding Trust and Confidence in FS
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TTF Press Clippings
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