IFA Hub Extranet
I saw the light on the night that I passed by her window…..
Categories: RDR, FSA, PanaceaIFA Comment
Many were agog that FSA MD Margaret Cole, once tipped to be “The Boss”, is leaving after seven years at the regulator.
The announcement was met with the usual self satisfying corporate PR niceties with Cole saying “It has been a challenging but rewarding few years and I believe, with the help of a team of quality people, I have created a successful enforcement platform to take into the UK’s new regulatory authorities. The time has come for me to seek a fresh challenge, knowing that I leave the continuation of a winning strategy in safe hands.”
And Sants saying, “Ms Cole has been pivotal in transforming the FSA’s approach to enforcement and she leaves a substantial legacy, widely respected in legal, regulatory and international circles. She has been a strong leader and advocate of the importance of delivering a credible deterrent to those that attempt to commit wrongdoing, as well as being an invaluable member of my executive team.”
So what happened, why is she suddenly referred to as Ms Cole, why did she leave?
Well I suspect that there is a concern momentum growing among the great and the good at Canary Wharf that as the RDR train is about to leave Canary Wharf for Limehouse the DLR Docklands curve is in the way and it may be a good time for the “1st class passengers” to get off the train before it derails and reputations crash and burn in the wreck?
If her decision to resign had not been made by the end of January, I suspect that it was shortly after the Treasury Committee took evidence from the FSA on its report into the failure of RBS on Monday 30 January 2012 as it seemed clear to those who watched the very long session that this was a grilling to far and she was not going to sit through another.
So much for the endorsement of “I leave the continuation of a winning strategy in safe hands.”
With a lengthy and highly lucrative period of bush pruning ahead, Alan Lakey wryly observed, “During the 2010/11 financial year Margaret Cole received salary and benefits valued at £263,686. This ignores the 5 star hotels, air miles and other prequisites. She is a member of the defined contribution pension scheme where she benefited from a £27,332 contribution, a sum included within the above total. However, this income relates to a pro rata salary reflecting a mere seven months as Director. Using this as a basis for calculation it appears that her pruning and mowing will bring in a tasty £137,000”
So this all leads to the BIG question, where does she go?
The cynics out there think that a big job is lined up after the summer holidays with a bank or other financial institution and sadly those cynics may be correct.
But, with so many high profile FSA ‘ex-ecutives’ having already pioneered this route is there something rotten about such journeys?
After all we should note that Government ministers are prohibited from working with companies their department may have had a relationship with for two years.
Former cabinet minister Geoff Hoon had restrictions put on his business activities by the body set up to prevent politicians misusing their influence.
The restrictions mean Mr. Hoon cannot draw on any privileged information he was given during his time as a minister during the next two years.
The Advisory Committee on Business Appointments (Acoba), which looks at the position of all ministers who take up jobs after leaving Parliament states that:
“Under the Ministerial Code former Ministers who want to take up any appointments or employment for two years after leaving office are required to seek advice from the Advisory Committee, and must abide by that advice. Former Ministers are asked to complete an application form”.
This protocol should apply to ALL those in high profile regulatory positions too. But who regulates the regulator?
Yep, you are right, in this case the FSA- the Regulator so I guess that unless the Government steps in with the FCA such practices will continue unchecked- how very cosy.
So what of the FSA post RDR?
Well as regulator number five pulls into Canary Wharf ,the regulated world will reflect on the FSA in a mostly negative light. It will I suspect be blamed for huge failings and many will ask “how could this have happened” and how did they get away with it for so long?
IFAs will not I suspect shed too many a tear at her departure, singing “forgive me Ms Cole we just couldn't take any more”.
Related Stories
Defining business vision and objectivesRDR - the clock is ticking...
You've got the exams, changed the business model. Surely something's missing?
Aviva: We're making sure you're ready for RDR
Scottish Provident: An opportunity to take your business to the next level
Article last updated: Feb 22, 2012
Derek Bradley, CEO
Sarah Paul, Marketing Director
James Bradley, Head of e-Relationships
Comments
By mentioning Margaret Cole’s salary you may well have inadvertently stumbled on a contributory reason for her departure.
As a high profile lawyer this salary is actually chicken feed. In her circles within private practice this could be regarded as charity work.
Put this together with the fact that the regulator is under pressure to not seem extravagant (rightly so) and then add the brickbats and stresses from Parliamentary oversight and can you then wonder that the lady probably decided that getting a ‘gong’ just wasn’t worth the aggro and sacrifice.
I’m not for one second suggesting that the staff at the Regulator are underpaid, only that in this particular case she can earn a lot more elsewhere. This of course does raise the point as to why anyone would take on such a job at less than they can get elsewhere. I guess you had better ask the likes of Mervyn King and Hector Sants that question.