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The Financial Services Authority (FSA) today announced the appointment of Julian Edwards to the role of consumer senior advisor.
Julian, who will take up the role from 1 January, has more than 30 years experience as a consumer champion working for various organisations including Which? and Consumer International.
The consumer senior advisor is a new role which the FSA has established as part of its commitment to deliver better outcomes for consumers through intensive supervision and rigorous risk assessment. The new approach also included a commitment to strengthen the FSA’s understanding of consumer issues.
Hector Sants, the FSA’s chief executive officer, said:
"I am delighted to announce Julian’s appointment today as a senior advisor to the FSA. He has considerable experience to bring to bear on the key issues that we face in protecting consumers.
"Through intensive and intrusive regulation we are focusing our skills and insight into not just taking action when we find failures – but proactively identifying and addressing issues that have the potential to harm consumers. This is a step change in approach and Julian will have an invaluable role in ensuring that we have the ability to achieve this.”
Senior advisors are a core part of the FSA’s delivery of intensive supervision. The team provides experience on regulatory, market and now consumer matters.
Notes for editors
- Julian spent nearly 20 years at the Consumers' Association (now Which?) in a variety of roles. He was Director General of Consumer International, the global federation of consumer organisations, between 1996 and 2005, and most recently has worked as a consultant to a number of organisations.
- 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; securing the appropriate degree of protection for consumers; and fighting financial crime.
