The Financial Conduct Authority has appointed Therese Chambers and Steve Smart as joint executive directors of enforcement and market oversight in a move to strengthen its enforcement team. 

The watchdog says the bigger enforcement team will help ensure consumer outcomes meet the higher standards of the new Consumer Duty which arrives in July.

The FCA also aims to be a “more assertive, more adaptive and more innovative regulator” in future, it said.

The FCA says it will “step in” where firms restrict competition.

The expansion of the enforcement and market oversight leadership team will help deliver the FCA’s strategy to cut financial crime which has soared in recent years, it said.

The FCA will publish is business plan next month which will detail its investment in enforcement and market oversight.

The new appointments coincide with the imminent departure of long-serving FCA executive Mark Steward who announced last year he would stand down after seven years with the regulator.

The two new executives bring complementary skills, the FCA said. Ms Chambers has regulatory, supervisory and legal experience while Mr Smart has criminal enforcement, investigatory, intelligence and security experience.

FCA CEO Nikhil Rathi said: “We are committed to acting faster and more effectively, putting the power of technology, data and intelligence at the heart of our enforcement operations. Therese and Steve will be a powerful combination, bringing a complementary skillset, which will enable us to do just that.  I thank Mark again for his remarkable seven years of service.”

Ms Chambers has worked at the FCA for over 20 years, mostly in enforcement, including as director of retail and regulatory investigations. She is currently director of consumer investments in the supervision, policy and competition division.

She said: “The work of the Enforcement and Market Oversight division is of critical importance in supporting the FCA’s strategy and we will continue to build out our assertive and proactive approach. I look forward to working with colleagues on ExCo and across the FCA as we increasingly use our powers to protect consumers and tackle harm.”

Mr Smart joins from the National Crime Agency, where he is a member of the Executive Committee as director of intelligence, leading a division of over 2000 people. He has also worked in the private sector as lead on the development of an integrated intelligence and investigations department in a major banking group.

Mr Smart said: “I’m really excited to be joining the FCA. It is a great opportunity to put my experience of leading and developing proactive operational functions and working with partners in the police, wider law enforcement and counterparts overseas to help the FCA to continue to prevent serious harm, set higher standards and promote competition.”

Ms Chambers will take on the role of executive director on 1 April. Mr Smart will join on 21 June. Mr Steward will leave the FCA on 13 April. 

The FCA has also announced the creation of a single legal function headed by current general counsel Stephen Braviner-Roman. In other changes, Sarah Pritchard will take over executive responsibility for the FCA’s international work once Mark Steward leaves, in addition to her existing role as executive director, markets, in the Supervision, Policy and Competition Division.

The new appointments mean the FCA’s executive committee will have 9 members, comprising 5 women and 4 men, including 3 from minority ethnic backgrounds, the FCA said.