Samantha Barrass has been named as the new CEO of the FMA, replacing incumbent Rob Everett who announced his resignation earlier this year.
Barrass will be based in Wellington and is to take up her new role in January 2022. Everett leaves at the end of October and FMA General Counsel Liam Mason will be Acting CEO in the interim.
Between 2014 and 2019 Barrass was the CEO of the financial regulator in Gibraltar, and worked for nine years at the Financial Services Authority in the UK (now the Financial Conduct Authority).
Most recently, she led the establishment of the UK’s Business Banking Resolution Service, designed to resolve disputes between banks and their business customers.
She has also held senior roles at the UK Solicitors Regulatory Authority and the London Investment Banking Association.
After graduating in economics from the University of Canterbury in Christchurch – and completing post-graduate study at Victoria University of Wellington – Barrass began her career as an economist at the RBNZ. She moved to the UK to attend the London School of Economics.
“We are delighted to have secured Barrass for this role,” says FMA Chair Mark Todd. “The experience Barrass has of the insurance and banking industries will be particularly relevant for the increased role the FMA is to play in those areas.”