That Hector Sants is currently a trending topic on Twitter should say something about the impact of his announced departure from the Financial Services Authority (FSA).
Sants had always planned to step down as Chief Executive of the FSA in the summer. In his three years at the helm of the regulator, he has been in charge throughout a global credit crunch and financial crisis that almost brought down the banking system.
We certainly don’t envy him.
Commenting in an article on IFAonline, Informed Choice managing director Martin Bamford said:
“It will be difficult for him to leave a legacy. He’ll be remembered for being at the helm during the time of the financial crisis and credit crunch and will be remembered for all the wrong reasons.”
“In terms of his replacement, there could be no role to be filled. When Sants goes in the summer we would have had a general election and potentially there could be no FSA. So we could see some sort of interim position to oversee the transition from the FSA to the Conservative’s new Consumer Protection Agency.”
“Overall, he has done ok – he has done the best he could during a difficult time.”
All eyes will now be on the FSA to see who steps in to replace Hector Sants. With the Conversatives saying they will, if elected, abolish the FSA and replace it with a Consumer Protection Agency, any newly appointed Chief Executive will face challenges during the transition.
However, the new appointee should at least expect a quieter time at the head of the regulator, assuming we do not see a repeat of the global banking crisis.
