FSA head of retail departs

by Gill Montia

Story link: FSA head of retail departs

The Financial Services Authority (FSA) has announced that Clive Briault, the managing director of its retail business division, will be leaving his post at the end of April.

Mr Briault has been deeply involved in the Northern Rock debacle, in that he headed the team that monitored the mortgage bank.

During the enquiries that followed the UK’s first run on a bank in over a century, the FSA was forced to admit that it had not undertaken an in-depth assessment of Northern Rock for 18 months before its liquidity crisis.

David Kenmir, formerly FSA’s managing director of regulatory services, will take over Mr Briault’s job until a new appointment is made.

The regulator has described Mr Briault’s departure as “by mutual consent” and it is understood that under the terms of his contract Mr Briault could receive one year’s salary, or £380,000, if his post is terminated by the FSA.

Last month, The Times newspaper reported that five of the seven FSA supervisors who worked closely on Northern Rock before its implosion, no longer work for the authority.

The FSA is due to publish an internal report on the circumstances surrounding the collapse of Northern Rock by the end of March.