FSA restructures with new enforcement group heads

The Financial Services Authority (FSA) has appointed two new heads of department as the Authority continues to restructure its enforcement group.

The appointments come just weeks after the FSA created a new unit to “stress test" enforcement cases before they are taken to formal disciplinary review, as first revealed by director of enforcement Margaret Cole in an exclusive interview with The Lawyer (9 January).

Jamie Symington is replacing replacing Ian Mason and joining Carlos Conceicao as co-head of enforcement’s wholesale group. Symington is a qualified barrister and has also worked at the DTI advising on company investigations and the Foreign Office. Mason is leaving the FSA.

Since 2004 Symington has been in enforcement's wholesale group managing investigations and prosecutions of market abuse and similar cases.

William Amos is replacing Julia Dunn as head of enforcement’s retail department. Amos joined the FSA from the Bank of England and has been a member of the enforcement department since 2001. Dunn is moving internally.

The new litigation and legal review unit aims to review the evidence and recommendations that the FSA's enforcement division puts before the Regulatory Decisions Committee (RDC), which makes the FSA's disciplinary decisions. Tracey McDermott, former head of the division’s retail units, is heading the new team.