Speaking to the City and Financial Global summit, Sarah Pritchard, executive director of markets at the FCA, confirmed that the regulator was looking to “build our team of people” in order to help it evolve into a “more innovative, assertive and adaptive” organisation.
Pritchard noted that with new roles being created, the regulator will be “continuing to hire at pace”, looking to attract talented workers from the private sector, public sector and other regulators.
January saw 60 new joiners take up roles at the FCA, with expectations of similar or increased recruitment levels in February and March. Pritchard emphasised that in order to attract staff, the regulator “will continue to offer one of the best, if not best, employment package of any UK enforcement agency or regulator”.
She added: “Within the broader organisation we are moving to recruiting campaign style, to ensure we can regularly bring in and attract talent in London, Edinburgh, and Leeds. We have completed the bolstering of our authorisations team, with 95 new colleagues joining to help ensure our gateway is robust, to speed up our authorisations processes and to support new, innovative firms – the gateway plays a key role in supporting a competitive financial system.”
Pritchard emphasised that the FCA was keen to engage with industry, to get a keener understanding of what regulator reform means for the industry at large.
The comments come a week after staff at the FCA voted to strike. Staff who are members of the Unite union voted by an 87 per cent margin in favour of industrial action over proposed changes to wages and conditions.
Sharon Graham, general secretary at Unite, said: “While the proposed cuts at the regulator is good news for fraudsters and rip-off merchants it is bad news for people with savings, loans, mortgages and pensions as experienced and committed staff are being forced out of the door. The new FCA CEO, Nikhil Rathi, should be waging war on malpractice in the financial sector, not on his own staff.”
The vote was non-binding, so the next stage will be a formal ballot of members, which will take place if Rathi refuses to negotiate.
