Nick Stace appointed as Non-Executive Director of Financial Conduct Authority

The government has announced today that Nick Stace, RCVS Chief Executive Officer, has been appointed to the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) as a Non-Executive Director.

Nick has been appointed for an initial three year term which will take effect from 1 April 2017.

Nick Stace will bring a wealth of consumer and leadership experience to this role and is ideally suited to help the FCA deliver its objectives.

Simon Kirby

The Non-Executive Directors play a vital part in shaping the role of the FCA; agreeing the strategy; and providing appropriate advice, guidance and counsel to the executive team whilst holding them to account for the performance of the organisation.

Economic Secretary to the Treasury, Simon Kirby said:

“The Financial Conduct Authority plays an important role ensuring Britain’s financial services sector delivers for consumers. Nick Stace will bring a wealth of consumer and leadership experience to this role and is ideally suited to help the FCA deliver its objectives.”

Welcoming the appointment, FCA Chairman John Griffith-Jones said:

“One of the FCA’s key strategic objectives is to ensure we secure an appropriate degree of protection for consumers in financial services. Nick’s extensive experience and knowledge gained through working at senior levels within organisations that deal directly with consumer related issues will be a significant asset to the FCA. We look forward to having him on our Board.”

Nick Stace added:

"I am delighted to be joining the FCA at such an important time. The treatment of consumers using financial services is something that we can all relate to and is rightly one of the FCA’s priorities in the work it performs. I look forward to joining the board to help the FCA meet its objectives in this area.”

About Nick Stace

Nick Stace is currently Chief Executive of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons. He has held executive leadership positions in consumer organisations as Deputy CEO of Which? (UK) and CEO of Choice (Australia), as well as a number of non-executive roles focusing on consumer experience, including as a director of a European consumer affairs organisation (BEUC) and as a director of Consumers’ International.

About the FCA

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is the independent conduct of business regulator in the UK, established to ensure consumers are protected, market integrity is maintained and that there is effective competition.

The Act provides the FCA with a single strategic objective to ensure relevant markets function well, and three operational objectives: to promote effective competition in the interests of consumers, to secure an appropriate degree of protection for consumers, and to protect and enhance the integrity of the UK financial system. These are supported by a competition duty.

The FCA, as the UK conduct of business regulator:

• Regulates the conduct of all financial services firms, including those that are regulated prudentially and those passporting in to the UK, taking a proactive approach to secure better outcomes for consumers;
• Regulates market conduct, covering the behaviour of market participants in the activity of trading or dealing on markets and the behaviour of wholesale firms both in financial markets and in their dealings with consumers and clients;
• Acts as primary market regulator, making and enforcing listing, prospectus, disclosure and transparency rules;
• Has a strong and credible enforcement function and is able to take action using regulatory and civil powers, and to take forward criminal prosecutions where appropriate; and
• Is responsible for the prudential regulation of UK authorised persons that do not fall within the scope of PRA regulation.

Further Information

• This appointment has been made under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000, as amended by the Financial Services Act 2012 (“the Act”), and in accordance with the Commissioner for Public Appointments Code of Practice.
• Appointments of non-executive directors to the FCA are made by the Treasury and the terms of service of appointed members are determined by the Treasury in accordance with the Act.
• All appointments to the FCA are made on merit, and political activity plays no part in the selection process. However, there is a requirement for appointees’ political activity (if any declared) to be made public.
• The appointee has confirmed that they have not engaged in any political activity in the last five years.