Office of the Financial Services Ombudsman: Reappointment of Board

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A decision made on the 14 December 2017:

Decision Reference: MD-E-2017-0048
Decision Summary Title :	Reappointment of OFSO Board		Date of Decision Summary:	28th November 2017
Decision Summary Author:	Assistant Director		Decision Summary: Public or Exempt?	Public
Type of Report: Oral or Written?	Written		Person Giving Oral Report:	N/A
Written Report Title :	Reappointment of OFSO Board		Date of Written Report:	28th November 2017
Written Report Author:	Assistant Director		Written Report : Public or Exempt?	Public
Subject: Reappointment of David Thomas as Chairman and John Curran, Debbie Guillou, and John Mills to the Board of the Office of the Financial Services Ombudsman (OFSO) by the Minister for Economic Development, Tourism, Sport and Culture.
Decision(s): Following discussion with Guernsey counterparts the Minister decided, in accordance with Schedule 1 of the Financial Services Ombudsman (Jersey) Law 2014, to give the States Assembly two weeks’ notice of his intention to reappoint David Thomas as Chairman and John Curran, Debbie Guillou, and John Mills to the Board of the Office of the Financial Services Ombudsman (OFSO).
Reason(s) for Decision: The existing terms of office of the Chairman and the Board expire on 30th January 2018.
Resource Implications: There are no financial or manpower implications for the States.
Action required: The Greffier of the States is requested to arrange to present to the States the attached Report for their information at the earliest opportunity.
Signature: Senator L J Farnham		Position: Minister for Economic Development, Tourism, Sport and Culture
Date Signed:		Date of Decision (If different from Date Signed)

Office of the Financial Services Ombudsman: Reappointment of Board

Summary

The Office of the Financial Services Ombudsman (“OFSO”) Chairman and board were formally appointed from 15th August 2014 (Chairman) and 1st November 2014 (board) for a period of 3 years after the date of registration of the Guernsey equivalent of the Financial Services Ombudsman (Jersey) Law 2014 which will expire on 30th January 2018.

It was agreed by the Minister for Economic Development, Tourism, Sport and Culture (‘the Minister’) that the Chairman and board members be reappointed for durations and terms as detailed below.

Proposal post January 2018

After discussions with Guernsey counterparts, as anticipated under the MOU between the Minister and the President of the Guernsey Committee for Economic Development, it was proposed that:

Mr. David Thomas is reappointed, by the Minister, as Chairman for a further 4 years from January 2018 (ending in January 2022). Schedule 1 of the Ombudsman Law [1] allows for the reappointment of a serving Chairman for a period of between 3 and 5 years.
The 3 remaining board members are reappointed for “staggered” terms of 3, 4 and 5 years whereby one board member leaves the board each year starting from January 2021. The outgoing board member would then be reappointed or replaced by a new board member so there is no overlap or gap and 3 board members (in addition to the Chairman) are in situ at all times. The new position created each year would be part of a recruitment campaign at the start of each year from 2021.

Under Schedule 1 of the Ombudsman Law the Minister appoints ordinary members from persons nominated by the Chairman, and that they are appointed for terms of not less than 3 or more than 5 years. Mr. David Thomas has recommended the following staggered terms for these board reappointments:

John Curran is appointed for 3 years from January 2018 and his appointment will therefore end in January 2021 when a new appointment will need to be made;
John Mills is appointed for 4 years from January 2018 and his appointment will therefore end in January 2022 when a new appointment will need to be made; and,
Deborah Guillou is appointed for 5 years from January 2018 and her appointment will therefore end in January 2023 when a new appointment will need to be made.

Remuneration and terms

It is proposed that the remuneration and terms of the Chairman and board members [2] remain unchanged from the initial appointments in 2014.

Considerations in relation to the reappointment of Chairman and Board members

Reappointing the Chairman is proposed after considering the following:

1. Mr Thomas’ experience and performance with the OFSO combined with the fact that he has been Chairman since the OFSO came into force and some continuity would be beneficial;

2. A new funding model is to be proposed from the end of 2018 and it would be prudent to have some continuity and consistency during and immediately after what is anticipated as being a potentially challenging period;

3. The Chief Executive / Principal Ombudsman’s contract runs out in mid-2020 (it may be renewed, however this will be a decision for the OFSO board and Mr. Melville) and there would seem to be some benefits in ensuring that the Chairman’s period expires after 2020 to ensure some continuity in the event that Mr. Melville’s contract is not renewed;

4. Although it has not been formally tested, it is unlikely that a recruitment drive would attract a more experienced or suitable candidate for Chairman and any recruitment campaign would be costly to the OFSO in financial terms (which would be borne by the finance sector) and would be a drain on staff resources for both the OFSO and government; and,

5. Mr Thomas has indicated his willingness to be reappointed as Chairman on these proposed terms.

The staggered appointment of new board members is being proposed after feedback from the Chairman and supported by the fact that the staggering of the reappointment or replacement of board members means that there is a degree of continuity of expertise as only one board member would be reappointed or replaced each year.

Biographies

David Thomas qualified as a solicitor in England and Wales and also in Ireland. In his legal career, he was formerly: managing partner of a firm of lawyers with offices in Liverpool and London; a Council member of The Law Society of England and Wales; a Committee member of the City of London Law Society; and President of Liverpool Law Society. In his ombudsman career, he was formerly: UK Banking Ombudsman; Principal Ombudsman with the UK Financial Ombudsman Service; chairman of the International Network of Financial Services Ombudsman; a board member of the Legal Ombudsman; and a member of the Audit Advisory Committee of the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman. As well as being chairman of OFSO, he is a member of the Regulatory Board of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants. He advises internationally on financial ombudsmen for the World Bank.

John Curran was formerly: a member of the private office of three separate Ministers in the Irish government; a regulatory advisor in the Australian telecoms market; Director General of the Office of Utility Regulation in Guernsey; and Chief Executive of the Channel Islands Competition and Regulatory Authorities. As well as being a director of OFSO, he is now a director of Curran Consulting Limited, an independent consultant specialising in regulation and government policy and is chairman of Guernsey Mind, the mental health charity.

Mr. John Mills was formerly: Principal Secretary to a UK Minister; a member of the UK Prime Minister’s Policy Unit (leading on local government policy and finance); Director of Consumer affairs at the UK Office of Fair Trading; Chief Executive of Cornwall County Council; Chief Executive of the States of Jersey; Director of Rural Policy at the UK Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs; a Commissioner of the Jersey Financial Services Commission; and a Board member of Ports of London Authority. As well as being a director of OFSO, he is now deputy chairman of the Ports of Jersey Board and Jersey Charity Commissioner.

Deborah Guillou is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA). She was formerly: an accountant with Fairbairn International; Finance Director at Guernsey Electricity Limited; a senior finance manager at Investec Asset Management; Chief Financial Officer at Generali Worldwide Insurance Company Ltd; and Head of Generali International. As well as being a director of OFSO, she is now Chief Executive and a Director of The Medical Specialist Group in Guernsey.

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[1] Financial Services Ombudsman (Jersey) Law, 2014.

[2] Remuneration for the Jersey OFSO is summarised as: Chairman (£12,000 p.a.); board members £3,000 p.a.) - i.e. double these figures for full remuneration from both the Jersey and Guernsey OFSOs.