Liam Coleman has been appointed interim chair of the Financial Ombudsman Service, which is undergoing extensive changes to reduce its powers and speed up its claims process.
Coleman (pictured) will take on the position on October 10, replacing Baroness Zahida Manzoor, who has been inverted after two terms covers six years.
The appointment was completed by the Financial Conduct Authority with the approval of the Ministry of Finance.
Financial Conduct Authorities said Coleman will chair the board of directors of the Financial Ombudsman until a permanent appointment is “after the initial recruitment campaign proves unsuccessful.”
During his 30-year career in financial services, Coleman also served as deputy group treasury and head of capital management at Royal Bank of Scotland, and group director of the Finance Department of the National Building Association.
Like several regulators, the financial ombudsman service is under pressure to relax regulations to conform to the government’s growth agenda.
The review result is that the Financial Conduct Authority and the Financial Ombudsman Service will work together in high-volume complaints between consumers and companies to reduce the time required to resolve disputes.
Regulators will also “work together on specific or novel issues [that] Can clog the system and cause significant delays. ”
The move comes after UK financial and other agencies called for reform of financial ombudsman services, after which the decisions that “decisions beyond FCA rules create legal uncertainty”.
FOS also confirmed that interest in bringing instructed companies to pay some awards will be cut to track the Bank of England’s base average interest rate plus 1%.
This is reduced from the previous 8% rate and has remained the same for nearly 25 years.
The Financial Ombudsman added that it “plans to consult on case fees for financial companies later this summer to make the system more equitable and support early-stage solutions”.
Additionally, this month, the Finance Committee released a report that said former Financial Ombudsman Service CEO Abby Thomas’ departure in February was due to “confidence collapsed after fundamental disagreements with the board on strategy, management and operations.”
The committee also criticized Baroness Manzoor for saying “disrespect” when she “refuses to answer questions about the CEO’s departure” when she also appeared in front of the committee in February.
“I’m concerned that the financial ombudsman service senior leadership’s handling of this situation is very disappointing,” said Dame Meg Hillier, chairman of the Finance Committee.
“The attempt to frustrate the House of Commons committees to review openly responsible organizations turned out to be unsuccessful.
“I hope this will send a clear message in any organization that considers similar actions in the future that members of the House of Commons will have answers to the questions they have raised on behalf of the British public, whether or not trying to stop them.”
Financial Conduct Authority Chairman Ashley Alder welcomes Coleman’s experience bringing to the position.
“I’m glad that those with the depth of Liam’s experience will lead the board of financial ombudsmen during a critical period of the organization,” Alder said.
Coleman added: “I look forward to working closely with the Board, the Executive Team and our wider stakeholders, including the Treasury and the FCA.”
The day-to-day operations of the Financial Ombudsman Service are led by Interim Ombudsman James Dipple-Johnstone and Interim CEO Jenny Simmonds.
