Financial Services Compensation Scheme Board appointments

Bernard Day, OBE

Chartered insurer; Director of the Solicitors Indemnity Fund; Chairman of The Diocese in Europe Board of Finance; Director of the Three Choirs Festival Association; Chairman of Trustees of the Sylvanus Lyssons Charity; formerly Chief Executive, Managing Director, Director and Vice-Chairman of Ecclesiastical; Deputy Chairman of the ABI; Chairman of the General Insurance Council.

Tim Vogel

A forensic accountant and member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants; founder of the Chamber of Experts (January 2001), an association of expert witnesses based in Norfolk; experience in forensic accountancy and insolvency at Lovell Blake, KPMG, Howard Clark Whitehill, Grant Thornton and Ernst & Young.

Nigel Hamilton, Chair of the Board of FSCS, said:

"I am delighted to welcome these new members to the Board. I am sure they will make an extremely valuable contribution in helping us to tackle the challenges that lie ahead. I would like to express my thanks to Kit Jebens, who retired as a member of the Board in February 2002. Kit gave many years of valuable service, first as a director of ICS, and later on the FSCS Board and as a member of the FSCS Investment Industry Committee."

Notes for editors

1. The Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) acts as a safety net for customers of finance sector firms. The primary aim of the Scheme is to provide protection for private individuals and small businesses. The FSCS compensates consumers if an authorised firm is unable or likely to be unable to pay claims against it, usually because it has gone out of business or is insolvent. The Scheme covers investments, deposits and insurance.

2. The FSCS is independent from the FSA, although accountable to it, and, ultimately, to the Treasury. The conduct of the Compensation Scheme is the responsibility of its Board of Directors, appointed by the Financial Services Authority (FSA). Under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (FSMA), the FSA appoints the Directors on terms which secure their independence from the FSA in the operation of the Scheme. The Chairmans appointment (and removal) is also subject to Treasury approval.

3. The Scheme is funded by the financial services industry.

4. The FSCS was created under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000, and became operational on 1 December 2001. At that time it replaced the following compensation schemes:

   • Building Societies Investor Protection Scheme

   • Deposit Protection Scheme

   • Friendly Societies Protection Scheme

   • Investors Compensation Scheme

   • PIA Indemnity Scheme

   • Policyholders Protection Board

   • Section 43 Scheme
     and the arrangement between the Association of British Insurers and the Investors Compensation Scheme Ltd for paying pension review compensation to widows, widowers and dependents of deceased persons. The assets and liabilities of the pre-existing Schemes were transferred to the FSCS. The FSCS also assumed responsibility for any outstanding claims that had been made to those schemes before 1 December 2001.

5. 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 appropriate degree of protection of consumers; and fighting financial crime.

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