Sarah Pritchard is good news for the FCA and good news for pensions. The Pension Schemes Bill came from our Pension Minister who has responsibilities for Treasury and DWP. That means both FCA and TPR are part of the reform

The FCA will oversee the development of workplace GPPs and the legacy of personal pensions that insurers may need to consolidate into master trusts or at least count towards scale.

The FCA will jointly with the Pensions Regulator ensure that Value for Money is equivalent for contract and trust based DC plans.

The FCA will ensure that defaults cover both accumulation and decumulation and will continue to regulated the activities of insurers in the provision of bulk and retail annuities.

I am pleased to see Charles Randell, a former Chair of FCA and someone I admire, coming out in applause for Sarah.

A lawyer alongside a former Slaughter’s partner Philip Bennett, Charles Randell is shrewd.

Sarah Prichard , like Randell a lawyer and like Bennett a Professor at Durham, is also shrewd.  She went to the right university!

Here is what she has to say about this appointment, published yesterday

Here is what the FCA announcement tells us

The new role has been created to reflect the FCA’s expanding remit, with the integration of the Payment Systems Regulator, regulation of stablecoin and crypto firms as well as Buy Now Pay Later activities. As deputy chief executive, Sarah will also support the FCA’s increasingly international focus, given its role supporting UK growth and competitiveness.

Sarah joined the FCA in June 2021 to jointly lead the supervision, policy and competition division. Sarah has most recently been responsible for consumers and competition, having previously led the FCA’s markets function.

Sarah also has executive responsibility for the FCA’s international work and personally spearheaded recent G20/Financial Stability Board work on leverage in non-bank financial institutions.

Nikhil Rathi, chief executive of the FCA, said:

‘Since joining us, Sarah helped bring together our supervision, policy and competition functions and has led some of our most high-profile work, for example, the once-in-a-generation overhaul of the listing rules and landmark work on financial advice and guidance.

‘Delivering our ambitious new strategy – to deepen trust, rebalance risk, support growth and improve lives – is a collective endeavour and relies on continued reform. Sarah’s breadth of experience, in both public and private sectors, makes her ideally placed to help me drive this.’

Ashley Alder, chair of the FCA, said:

‘The international environment is complex, our remit is growing and expectations of us continue to evolve. The board fully supports Sarah taking on the role of deputy chief executive to help Nikhil lead the FCA day-to-day and cultivate our key relationships. Sarah has proven her ability to drive reform and deliver bold proposals at pace.’

Sarah Pritchard, deputy chief executive of the FCA, said:

‘The last 4 years has been marked by significant reform. I am looking forward to working even more closely with Nikhil, so there is no let up in the pace of change, and to ensure we have the right relationships, domestically and internationally, to deliver our ambitious strategy.’  

Sarah has already taken up the deputy chief executive role. There will be no immediate change to her areas of responsibility.