The Financial Conduct Authority’s executive director of enforcement and market oversight, Mark Steward (pictured), is to step down in spring next year. A global search for his successor will begin shortly.
Steward joined the FCA in 2015 from the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) where he was executive director with responsibility for the enforcement division. He also held several senior positions within the Australian Securities and Investment Commission (Asic).
During his time at the FCA, Steward has helped deliver of some of its “most complex, high-profile, and precedent-setting enforcement cases, with many notable successes against major global financial institutions and individuals”, the watchdog said.
It added that he also led the FCA’s listing authority and oversight of the UK’s publicly traded markets, a role in which he developed the FCA’s data-led approach to market oversight. Additionally, he has been at the forefront of the FCA’s anti-scam marketing campaign, ‘Scamsmart’.
Nikhil Rathi, CEO of the FCA, said: “Mark has brought his formidable experience as a regulator and as a litigator to the FCA, delivering significant enforcement cases across a broad spectrum, as well as the FCA’s data-led approach to market oversight.
“That enormous contribution is a result of Mark’s abiding belief in fairness, that markets must be clean if the economy is to thrive and in doing the right thing on behalf of consumers. He has shown that the FCA is willing to take on challenging cases, will use the full extent of our powers and will deliver results that have a real impact for the markets we oversee and for those who rely on them.
“I am hugely grateful for Mark’s leadership, dedication and expertise and wish him the very best for the future.”
Steward added: “It has been a privilege to serve the FCA throughout many challenges over the last seven years and, as I move on, to leave behind such a strong team for the future.”
