FCA Expands Senior Leadership Team

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has recently expanded its senior leadership team with important appointments. The financial regulatory body has named Mel Gunewardena as the Senior Advisor.

To accelerate its transformation, FCA has announced the recruitment of Simon Walls as an Interim Wholesale Director. Additionally, Graeme Reynolds has joined the Financial Conduct Authority as Director of Competition.

So far in 2022, FCA has recruited more than 250 people. According to the details shared by the regulatory authority, the staff turnover has returned to pre-pandemic levels.

Commenting on the appointments, Nikhil Rathi, the Chief Executive at the FCA, said: “I continue to be impressed and encouraged by the talent, both internal and external, putting themselves forward to lead our organization. I look forward to working closely with Mel when he joins and congratulating Graeme and Simon on their promotions. We anticipate having more senior appointments to announce soon.”

The Financial Conduct Authority has tightened its grip around illegal financial activities under its jurisdiction. The authority recently released the results of its review of the financial crime controls of the challenger banks. The FCA noted that the challenger banks need to improve financial crime risk assessment.

Appointments

Gunewardena, Reynolds and Walls have extensive experience in the global financial services industry. Gunewardena, who will join the Financial Conduct Authority in mid-May, is currently serving as Chief Market Intelligence Officer at the Commodities and Futures Trading Commission based in Washington DC. The newly appointed Senior Advisor at the FCA previously worked with Goldman Sachs.

“Graeme has been Deputy Chief Economist and Head of Department for Economic and Financial Analysis at the FCA since 2017, having previously been a manager in the FCA’s Competition Division. Prior to that, Graeme spent nearly ten years at the Competition Commission (now the Competition and Markets Authority) as Director of Remedies, Business and Financial Analysis, and as an Economic Adviser,” the FCA noted.