John Griffith-Jones commented:

“I committed to a five year fixed term to chair the FCA and, in so doing, to help ensure that conduct regulation became a respected part of the UK financial landscape. It has been, and continues to be, a great privilege to be responsible for the work of both the FCA and the PSR. I like to believe that I will leave both in good shape to regulate well in the future.”

John Griffith-Jones was appointed as the first FCA Chair with effect from 1 April 2013; he became Chair of the PSR when it was established in April 2014; his term of office at both organisations expires on 31 March 2018.

The Chancellor of the Exchequer, the Rt Hon Philip Hammond MP, commented:

“I want to thank John Griffith-Jones for his work as Chairman of both the Financial Conduct Authority and the Payment Systems Regulator.

“Both undertake a vital role in ensuring that the UK financial markets work well and that the interests of consumers and users of those markets are protected. John Griffith-Jones has provided strong leadership to both Boards during his tenure, helping to establish them as key parts of the UK financial regulatory system.”

HM Treasury will now commence the process for recruiting a new Chair for the FCA.

Background

The Financial Conduct Authority is an independent body, accountable to HM Treasury and to Parliament. The Chair of the Financial Conduct Authority is appointed by HM Treasury; the Chair of the Payment Systems Regulator is appointed by the FCA with the approval of HM Treasury.

John Griffith-Jones became Chairman of the Financial Conduct Authority in April 2013 and Chairman of its subsidiary, the Payment Systems Regulator in April 2014.

On 1 April 2013, the FCA became responsible for the conduct supervision of all regulated financial firms and the prudential supervision of those not supervised by the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA).

The FCA has an overarching strategic objective of ensuring the relevant markets function well. To support this it has three operational objectives: to secure an appropriate degree of protection for consumers; to protect and enhance the integrity of the UK financial system; and to promote effective competition in the interests of consumers.

The PSR was incorporated on 1 April 2014 and became fully operational on 1 April 2015.

The PSR has three statutory objectives: to promote effective competition in the markets for payment systems and for services provided by those systems; to promote the development of innovation in payment systems in the interest of service-users; and to ensure that payment systems are operated and developed in a way that considers and promotes the interests of service-users.