Mark Steward, the Financial Conduct Authority’s executive director of enforcement and market oversight, will leave the regulator next spring.

The senior executive has been leading the FCA’s data-led approach to market oversight since 2015.

He joined from the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission, where he was executive director with responsibility for the enforcement division.

Before that he held several senior positions with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission, including deputy executive director, enforcement.

Since joining the City watchdog seven years ago, Mr Steward has led the delivery of some of the FCA’s most complex, high-profile, and precedent-setting enforcement cases, with many notable successes against major global financial institutions and individuals.

He also led the FCA’s listing authority and oversight of the UK’s publicly traded markets, a role in which he developed the FCA’s data-led approach to market oversight. Additionally, he has been at the forefront of the FCA’s anti-scam marketing campaign, known as ‘Scamsmart’.

Nikhil Rathi, chief executive of the FCA, said: “Mark has brought his formidable experience as a regulator and as a litigator to the FCA, delivering significant enforcement cases across a broad spectrum, as well as the FCA’s data-led approach to market oversight.”

He noted Mr Steward’s “abiding belief in fairness”, that markets must be clean if the economy is to thrive and in doing the right thing on behalf of consumers.

He added: “He has shown that the FCA is willing to take on challenging cases, will use the full extent of our powers and will deliver results that have a real impact for the markets we oversee and for those who rely on them.”

Mark Steward said: “It has been a privilege to serve the FCA throughout many challenges over the last seven years and, as I move on, to leave behind such a strong team for the future.”

Mr Steward will leave the FCA in Spring 2023. The global search for his successor will begin shortly, the FCA said.