Sector Leader and Head of Capital Adequacy Policy - Richard Thorpe

Richard Thorpe is Accounting and Auditing Sector leader and Head of Capital Adequacy Policy at the FSA, and is responsible for policy developments across the three regulated sectors (banking, insurance and securities). He represents the FSA in IOSCO and CESRfin, and has participated on behalf of those bodies in IASB advisory groups on financial instruments and financial activities, as well as the Standards Advisory Council and IFRIC and EFRAG. Notably, he worked on the IOSCO endorsement of IASs which was published in 2000, and the CESRfin recommendation to the EC on equivalence of Canadian, Japanese and US GAAP, which was published in 2005. Richard is a chartered accountant and has worked in financial services regulation for over twenty years.

Manager - Pat Sucher

Pat Sucher is the manager of the Accounting & Audit Policy and Sector for the FSA. Along with her sector responsibilities, Pat is responsible for the team which deals with accounting, audit and disclosure policy issues that affect the FSA e.g. around fair value. This role involves advising supervisors and other policy areas on complex aspects of accounting, audit and disclosure issues. Pat, and members of her team, also represent the FSA's interests on a number of international committees such as Basel, IOSCO, IAIS, CEBS, CESR & CEIOPS.

Pat is a qualified accountant, with a Masters in International Accounting & Finance from the LSE. After some years in industry, and 19 years in academia, during which she published various articles and undertook consultancy work on aspects of international accountancy and audit, she joined the FSA in 2004.

Associate -Mohammed Shahed Ali

Mohammed joined the Accounting and Auditing Sector team in October 2008.
Prior to this he worked in the UKLA, vetting debt/GDR prospectuses as part of the Global Debt Group. Mohammed also completed internships at the FSA undertaking supervision work in RFD and prior to this, at the Civil Service (ODPM) in Local Government Finance.

Mohammed is an Economics graduate from Warwick University and currently is in his second year of the Graduate Development Programme. He is working towards the Chartered Financial Analyst designation and has completed the Level 1 exams in his first year.

Associate - Sofia Pisanello

Sofia joined the FSA and the Accounting and Auditing Sector in March 2008. Sofia was previously working with KPMG as a principal consultant in the strategy team in the financial sector. Prior to that she was an auditor with KPMG in Milan and London in the banking and asset management business unit. Her work experience includes audits to HSBC, Banco di Roma, Yamaichi, Credit Suisse. Sofia has spent a few months working as an economist at the DG1 developing countries policies at the European Union. Sofia holds a degree in Economics from the University of Bari in Italy and a MA in Economics and European Studies from the College of Europe in Bruges. She is also a member of the Italian institute of chartered accountant.

If you have any queries please contact us by email:

Richard Thorpe
Pat Sucher
Mohammed Shahed Ali
Sofia Pisanello