Ex-UK Financial Regulator to Join Management Consultant Oliver Wyman

By David Wighton 

        Hector Sants, once the U.K.'s top financial supervisor, is to join management consultant Oliver Wyman, a year after he stepped down from Barclays PLC because of stress and exhaustion.
        Mr. Sants will be a partner and vice chairman of Oliver Wyman, providing advice to some of the banks that he regulated as chief executive of the Financial Services Authority, the predecessor of today's Financial Conduct Authority, between 2007 and 2012.
        He joined Barclays as head of compliance and government and regulatory relations in January last year after the bank had suffered a string of regulatory problems. But he resigned 10 months later after suffering from stress and concluding that he wouldn't be able to return to work in the near term.
        Scott McDonald, Oliver Wyman's president and chief executive officer, said that Mr. Sants brings "rare and keen insight into global financial markets and on the challenges and opportunities implied by the regulatory reform program."
        Mr. Sants was one of the most prominent financial regulators to move into the private sector following the financial crisis. His appointment by Barclays was seen as a coup for the bank as it tried to improve its culture and repair relations with the authorities. But it continued to suffer from serious regulatory issues.
        Mr. Sants joined the FSA as head of wholesale markets in 2004 when the agency was pursuing a "light touch" style of regulation. This was discredited by the financial crisis and the FSA adopted a much tougher approach after Mr. Sants was appointed chief executive in 2007. In a speech in March 2009, Mr. Sants declared that "people should be very frightened of the FSA."
        Some politicians criticized his subsequent award of a knighthood for his contribution to financial services and regulation given his senior position in the FSA in the lead-up to the financial crisis.
        Mr. Sants, who will be based in London, will join Oliver Wyman in June next year. Until then he will serve as chief adviser to Abu Dhabi Global Market, a new international financial center being launched by the oil-rich capital of the United Arab Emirates.
        Since stepping down from Barclays, Mr. Sants has been heading a Church of England task force looking at the provision of credit for people on low incomes.
        Mr. Sants said in a statement that he knew and respected Oliver Wyman and the work it had done. "I share its penchant for content and idea development and look forward to joining a partnership of likable and like-minded colleagues where I can be an active and engaged part of the team."
        Mr. Sants joined the FSA from Credit Suisse, where he was chief executive of its investment bank in Europe. In February 2010, he announced his intention to step down as chief executive of the FSA. But after a Conservative-led government took power in May that year, he was persuaded to stay on to supervise a breakup of the agency. The FSA was split into the Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority, which was absorbed by the Bank of England.
        Write to David Wighton at david.wighton@wsj.com
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        (END) Dow Jones Newswires

        December 16, 2014 00:00 ET (05:00 GMT)

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