Regulator announces new managing director of retail markets as part of senior reshuffle

The FSA has announced the appointment of Jon Pain as its new managing director of retail markets. He will also join the FSA board, announced by HM Treasury today.

Pain will have overall responsibility for regulating firms or groups whose business is predominantly with retail consumers. This includes the regulation of high street banks, building societies, insurance companies, mortgage lenders, retail financial services intermediaries and approximately 17,000 smaller firms engaged in the mortgage advice, insurance broking and investment advice sectors. Pain will also assume responsibility for key consumer-facing functions such as the financial capability programme and the FSA Consumer Contact Centre.

Pain has 30 years experience in UK financial services, most recently as managing director of Cheltenham & Gloucester.

Hector Sants, FSA chief executive officer, said: “I am delighted that Jon will be joining the FSA and believe he will be a valuable addition to our management team. With more than three decades experience working in retail banking, insurance and the mortgage sector, as well as his work with trade bodies, Jon will play a key role in driving the FSA’s regulatory and consumer-facing objectives for the retail markets sector.”

Pain said: “I am very much looking forward to taking up my new role within the FSA, at a time when the importance of world class regulation is so universally recognised. I hope that my broad financial services experience and my previous roles managing consumer-facing businesses will bring added value to the FSA, the firms we regulate and the consumers we protect. I genuinely believe a vibrant, successful and well regulated retail financial services market can bring significant benefits for all stakeholders and the wider UK economy.”

David Kenmir, who has been acting as managing director of retail markets since April, returns to his role as chief operating officer, although he has indicated that he wishes to step down from the FSA to pursue other career opportunities in the New Year.

The FSA also announced that Clive Adamson has been appointed as director of the FSA’s Major Retail Groups Division. The MRGD’s remit is the close and continuous supervision of the retail high-impact groups, involvement in FSA sector work, themes and industry sector projects. He will maintain the supervisory relationship with overseas regulators in the key G10 countries. Adamson has been acting director of MRGD since April, having previously been a senior advisor with the FSA since 1998.