This event has now taken place but you can watch the video recording of it through our Youtube Channel, get to it by clicking the button below
When
Thursday, September 16th, 6PM - 8PM, GMTWhere
Online symposium via Zoom.Format
There'll be a great line-up of speakers plus ample scope for discussion and debate.Why you should attend
Why you should attend
Nikhil Rathi was appointed last year as the Financial Conduct Authority’s new Chief Executive. He became a regulator at an interesting time, with regulatory failure having become a massive public interest issue – there have been shockingly high levels of malpractice, malfeasance, misconduct and mis-selling taking place.
Shortly after his appointment, two important reports were published; both highly critical of the FCA – Dame Gloster’s review of LCF, and Raj Parker’s review of Connaught Income Fund Series 1.
As a consequence of those reports and the widespread concerns about the FCA’s poor performance, Parliamentarians (particularly those on the Treasury Select Committee), policymakers, campaign groups and the members of the public who have suffered financial losses have been seeking significant improvements to the effectiveness of the FCA.
But will those improvements happen?
If they do, it may well be because of the FCA’s flagship initiative – it’s Transformation Programme. This symposium is all about the way the FCA is planning to evolve through that Transformation Programme. It will focus on Nikhil’s vision for change and it will provide a first class opportunity to engage with him, through the Q&A session that follows his presentation.
If you would like to submit a question for consideration please be sure to provide your question when booking your place.
Furthermore, please note that the Transparency Task Force is a “critical friend” to regulators. We see our value in helping to ensure financial regulators are aware of what more they could be doing to help protect the interests of consumers. We have always enjoyed a highly engaged working relationship with regulators. We see ourselves as being on their side (although it may not seem that way to them), always thinking about what more they can do to become as effective as possible, particularly in relation to consumer protection issues.
Here's the programme and timings so far...
—————————————-6:00pm BST—————————————-
Welcome to the symposium, introductions and initial exploration of the main issues; by
Andy Agathangelou
Founder, Transparency Task Force; Governor, Pensions Policy Institute; Chair, Secretariat Committee, APPG on Pension Scams; Chair, Secretariat Committee, APPG on Personal Banking and Fairer Financial Services; Chair of the Violation Tracker UK Advisory Board, Policy Adviser to Parrhesia, the Whistleblower Research Charity
—————————————-6:10pm BST—————————————-
Presentation #1, for 15 minutes + 35 minutes managed Q&A/Discussion by
Nikhil Rathi
Chief Executive Officer, Financial Conduct Authority
—————————————-7:00pm BST—————————————-
Presentation #2, for 5 minutes
Ian Searle
Head of Department, Consumer Duty & Online Harms, Financial Conduct Authority
—————————————-7:05pm BST—————————————-
Presentation #3, for 15 minutes + 5 minutes Q&A/Discussion by
Andy Schmulow
Management Consultant, Academic, Advisor to GOVTS
—————————————-7:25pm BST—————————————-
Presentation #4, for 15 minutes + 5 minutes Q&A/Discussion by
Mark Bishop
Leader, Connaught Action Group
—————————————-7:45pm BST—————————————-
General discussion and debate, 10 minutes
—————————————-7:55pm BST—————————————-
Final conclusions; and suggested next steps and close to the formal proceedings.
___________________________________________________________________
*The programme will continuously evolve so is subject to change.
Nikhil Rathi
Executive Board Member, FCA
Nikhil was appointed Chief Executive of the FCA on 1 October 2020. Nikhil was previously Chief Executive of London Stock Exchange (LSE) plc and Director of International Development. Before joining the LSE in 2014, Nikhil served in HM Treasury, latterly as Director of Financial Services.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Ian Searle
Head of Consumer Duty and Online Harms, FCA
Ian Searle is the Head of Department for the New Consumer Duty and Online Harms at the FCA. He previously led the FCA’s retail lending policy response to the pandemic and managed the Payments and Mortgages Policy Teams. Prior to that he spent three years at the Bank of England and six years at HM Treasury.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Andy Schmulow
Management Consultant, Academic. Advisor to GOVTS
Dr Andy Schmulow is an Australian legal academic specialising in financial system regulation, specifically Twin Peaks. His focus is on driving good conduct towards consumers and combatting regulatory capture. His advice has been sought by, among others, the Australian Banking Royal Commission, the Australian Law Reform Commission, the South African National Treasury, the Korean insurance association, the New Zealand Law Reform Commission, regulators, central banks and parliamentarians. His advice has been reflected in recommendations made by those bodies and in legislation such as the Financial Regulator Assessment Authority Bill in Australia and the Conduct of Financial Institutions Bill in South Africa. He was tasked by CGAP, a division of the World Bank, to lead in the creation of the world’s first consumer-outcomes indicator framework, to measure consumer financial well-being, first in South Africa, and ultimately for deployment in countries comprising some 1.5 billion consumers. He consults to the financial industry on embracing and embedding fair treatment of consumers, and his research has been published in some of the world’s leading peer-reviewed journals. He has held honorary positions at various universities around the world and is a member of a research cluster at the European Banking Institute. He is admitted to practice in South Africa and Australia.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
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.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________