FSA appoints new members to the Board of the Financial Ombudsman Service

Howard Davies, Chairman of the FSA, said:

"I am delighted that we have, again, managed to secure the appointment of high calibre individuals with a wide range of relevant skills and experience to the Board of the Financial Ombudsman Service. Now that we are beyond the initial set-up phase, it is appropriate to change the composition and size of the Board. We look forward to working with the new Board of the Financial Ombudsman Service."

Andreas Whittam Smith, Chairman of the Board of the Financial Ombudsman Service said:

"We are fortunate to have secured the services of such a range of new talents and experience to join me on the Board of this unique and important service. On the new board financial industry experience will be well represented, but the majority of members will have backgrounds in public service, consumer affairs, complaint handling or the law."

"While the initial three years in the life of the service have been testing and eventful, I anticipate that the next three will be equally demanding. I am grateful both to those board members who have been reappointed, and particularly for the valuable contributions of those whose terms of office will be coming to an end and who helped us set the organisation on its course."

Newly appointed members of the board are:

Lawrence Churchill: Current Chair of the Industry Standards Group of the Association of British Insurers; former Personal Investment Authority (PIA) board member, Chairman and Managing Director of Unum Limited.

Ed Hucks: Former Customer Services Director NPI and Director of National and Provincial Building Society; currently Non-Executive Director, West Bromwich Building Society.

Roger Jefferies: Former Housing Association Tenants Ombudsman and Independent Housing Ombudsman; before that Chief Executive of Hounslow and Croydon London Boroughs, Non-Executive Director, National Clinical Assessment Authority.

Chris Kelly: Former Permanent Secretary, Department of Health; current Chairman of NSPCC; and member of National Consumer Council.

Kate Lampard: Trustee of Esmee Fairburn Foundation, Chair Designate of Kent Health Authority.

The following board members were reappointed:

Brian Landers (Deputy Chairman): Chief Operating Officer, Pearson Education EMA.

Robert Crawford: Head of Service Quality, Royal Bank of Scotland.

Richard Thomas: Director of Public Policy, Clifford Chance.

Helena Wiesner: Director of the Pensions, Protections and Investment Accreditation Board.

Newly appointed and reappointed board members will serve a three-year term commencing 23rd February 2002.

The term of appointment of the Chairman continues until 2003. The Chairman is Andreas Whittam Smith: President, British Board of Film Classification; formerly city editor, the Daily Telegraph; and former founder and editor of The Independent.

Notes for editors

1. The Financial Ombudsman Service is the scheme operated under Financial Services and Markets Act and responsible for running the new single Ombudsman scheme for financial services.

2. The Financial Ombudsman Service Board is responsible for appointing the Chief Ombudsman and securing his independence, ensuring the scheme fulfils its statutory objectives, reporting to the FSA on the performance of the scheme and overseeing its efficiency and effectiveness.

3. The FSA is responsible for appointing members to the Financial Ombudsman Service Board, for setting the schemes scope and jurisdiction, and for setting standards for the handling of consumer complaints by firms themselves. Consumers are only eligible to refer their complaints to the Financial Ombudsman Service after they have been through a firms complaints handling system.

4. The operation of the Financial Ombudsman Service is led by Walter Merricks, the Chief Ombudsman. The service has an annual budget of 27m, employs 450 staff and is based at South Quay in Londons docklands. It expects to resolve approximately 38,000 consumer complaints next year about retail financial services insurance policies, investments, mortgages and banking accounts.

5. Board members whose terms of office will end in February 2002:

   Michael Barnes CBE: Member of the Legal Services Commission.

   Ruth Evans: Lay member of the General Medical Council and of the Human Genetics Commission.

   Maggie Lee: Managing Director of Lime Hill.

   Dr Oonagh McDonald CBE: Research and management consultant.

   Sylvie Pierce: Managing Director Capital and Provident Regeneration.

   John Rawlings: Vice-Chairman of Skipton Building Society.

   Charles Wilson: Secretary and Solicitor, Nationwide Building Society.

   6. The FSA regulates the financial services industry and has four objectives under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000: maintaining market confidence; promoting public understanding of the financial system; the protection of consumers; and fighting financial crime.

   7. The FSA aims to maintain efficient, orderly and clean financial markets and help retail consumers achieve a fair deal.