The Treasury has appointed financial services lawyer Rachel Kent as the next financial regulator’s complaints commissioner.
Kent will succeed Amerdeep Somal who has been in the role for three years.
She will serve a five-year term starting on January 1.
Kent is currently a partner in the financial services regulatory team at law firm Hogan Lovells.
In March 2023, she was appointed to chair the independent Investment Research Review launched by the government, a review into the UK’s research and investment landscape.
She has also acted as the general counsel at the UK Infrastructure Bank and is an advisory board member for the Treasury’s Socio-Economic Mobility Taskforce and Expert Trade Advisory Group.
Kent said: “I am pleased to have been appointed to this important role which provides critical independent oversight of how the financial services regulators carry out, or fail to carry out, their functions.
“The financial services regulators have a significant impact on millions of consumers and firms and it is important that they are subject to effective scrutiny.
“I look forward to working with the regulators to ensure that complaints are handled efficiently and that there is transparency around how they operate”
This is the first time that the Treasury has appointed the complaints commissioner as the position was previously appointed by the financial services regulators.
The was changed in the Financial Services and Markets Act 2023 and was designed to provide a further layer of independence to the role.
Economic secretary to the Treasury, Bim Afolami, said: “This role is fundamental in ensuring that the regulators are accountable for their actions and that complaints made about them are independently investigated.
“Rachel brings a wealth of experience and expert knowledge of financial services regulation to this role. I am confident that she will provide robust and independent scrutiny of the way the financial services regulators have carried out their roles.”
The complaints commissioner has responsibility for independently reviewing complaints about the UK’s financial services regulators and the Bank of England.
They have the power to make recommendations to the regulators, including recommending that they provide appropriate remedies where a complaint is upheld.
sonia.rach@ft.com
