FCA adds three people to senior leadership team

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has hired three new people to join its senior leadership team.

Mel Gunewardena, who is currently chief market intelligence officer at the Commodities and Futures Trading Commission based in Washington DC and a former managing director at Goldman Sachs, will join the regulator as senior advisor later this month.

Graeme Reynolds, who is a deputy chief economist at the FCA, will take on the role of director of competition. He will lead the organisation’s teams undertaking competition market studies, as well as those who investigate competition enforcement cases.

Simon Walls has been appointed as an interim wholesale director. Walls has been head of wholesale markets since 2016 and has been with the FCA/FSA since 2006 in a variety of wholesale roles, including seven years in asset management supervision.

“I continue to be impressed and encouraged by the talent, both internal and external, putting themselves forward to lead our organisation,” said Nikhil Rathi, chief executive, FCA. “I look forward to working closely with Mel when he joins and congratulate Graeme and Simon on their promotions. We anticipate having more senior appointments to announce soon.”

The FCA has successfully recruited over 250 colleagues so far this year as staff turnover returns to pre-pandemic levels.

    Share Story:

Recent Stories


Banking's GenAI evolution: Beyond the hype, building the future
In the first episode of a three-part video podcast series sponsored by HCLTech, Sudip Lahiri, Executive Vice President & Head of Financial Services for Europe & UKI at HCLTech explores how financial institutions can navigate the transformative potential of Generative AI while building lasting foundations for innovation.

Beyond compliance: Transforming document management into a strategic advantage for financial institutions
In this exclusive fireside chat, John Rockliffe, Pre-Sales Manager at d.velop, discusses the findings of Adapting to a Digital-Native World: Financial Services Document Management Beyond 2025 and explores how FSIs can turn document workflows into a competitive advantage.

Sanctions evasion in an era of conflict: Optimising KYC and monitoring to tackle crime
The ongoing war in Ukraine and resulting sanctions on Russia, and the continuing geopolitical tensions have resulted in an unprecedented increase in parties added to sanctions lists.

Achieving operational resilience in the financial sector: Navigating DORA with confidence
Operational resilience has become crucial for financial institutions navigating today's digital landscape riddled with cyber risks and challenges. The EU's Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA) provides a harmonised framework to address these complexities, but there are key factors that financial institutions must ensure they consider.