Four women nab top roles at City watchdog the FCA
Four women have won top jobs at the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), where they will sit on the executive committee – the regulator’s most senior executive decision-making body.
Stephanie Cohen will be the FCA’s new chief operating officer and Jessica Rusu the first chief data, information and intelligence officer at the regulator.
Sarah Pritchard will become executive director of markets, and Emily Shapperd will take up the newly created role of executive director of authorisations.
The moves come amid change at the regulator, which has committed become a data-led regulator in order to be able to react more quickly and effectively to what is going on in financial markets.
The FCA has faced heavy criticism in recently years, notably for the way it handled the London Capital and Finance scandal, and for slow reaction to a growing defined benefit transfer scandal, which saw many lose money after wrongly advised to transfer out of their gold-plated pensions.
FCA chief executive Nikhil Rathi said: “As we continue transforming the FCA – building a data-led regulator – their global experience and leadership, drawn from a variety of backgrounds, will be vital in ensuring we can act more quickly to reduce harm to consumers and ensure market integrity.”
Clare Cole has also been appointed director of market oversight, and as part of that role will lead the FCA’s response to Lord Hill’s forthcoming listings review.