Leading lawyer Rachel Kent appointed by Treasury to oversee City watchdog scrutiny
Leading lawyer Rachel Kent has been appointed to oversee complaints made about financial regulators as the government looks to bulk up the scrutiny of the City’s watchdogs.
Kent, who led a review into the UK’s investment research market, will take on the role of Financial Regulators Complaints Commissioner (FRCC) at the start of next year. She will replace Amerdeep Somal.
The appointment represents the first time the Treasury has had the power to make the appointment after the FRCC was reformed as part of the Financial Services and Markets Act.
Previously appointments were made by the regulators.
This change was designed to provide a further layer of independence to the role and support the effectiveness of the FRCC.
The FRCC has responsibility for independently reviewing complaints about the UK’s financial services regulators and the Bank of England.
The changes were made after concerns were raised that City regulators were receiving extensive new powers post-Brexit without a commensurate increase in scrutiny.
“The financial services regulators have a significant impact on millions of consumers and firms and it is important that they are subject to effective scrutiny,” Kent said.
She said the FRC provides “critical independent oversight of how the financial services regulators carry out, or fail to carry out, their functions”.
“I look forward to working with the regulators to ensure that complaints are handled efficiently and that there is transparency around how they operate,” she continued.
City minister Bim Afolami said “this role is fundamental in ensuring that the regulators are accountable for their actions and that complaints made about them are independently investigated”.