The FSPO Council
Part 4 of the Financial Services and Pensions Ombudsman Act 2017 sets out the role of the FSPO Council, which has two main areas of responsibility. Firstly it is responsible under the legislation for setting the levy to be paid by financial service providers; and secondly it has certain oversight responsibilities in relation to the work of the FSPO, including its responsibilities in relation to:
- Approval of the Office's annual budget
- Approval of the Office's strategic plan
- Keeping under review the efficiency and effectiveness of the Ombudsman.
The Council has no role in dealing with complaints.
Code of Conduct
Members
The current Members of the Council are:
Ann Duffy (Chairperson)
Ms Duffy is an Independent Non-Executive Director and currently serves as Vice Chair of The Care Trust, an Irish registered charity, where she also chairs the Governance Committee. She is a member of the Finance Committee of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland. She is experienced in both the theory and practice of good corporate governance through her role as an Independent Non-Executive Director and having attained the Institute of Directors Certificate and Diploma in Company Direction. She also has significant Audit and Risk Committee experience as a member of the Audit and Risk Committee of The Care Trust; previous Chair of the Audit and Risk Committee of Rehab Group and as an external member of the Audit Committee of Trinity College Dublin. In her executive career as Director Corporate Affairs at Fyffes plc, she gained extensive experience of pensions and familiarity with the regulatory framework in Ireland and the UK. Ms Duffy is a law graduate of Trinity College Dublin and a fellow of Chartered Accountants Ireland.
Valerie Bowens
Ms Bowens (B.Comm., Master of Business Studies, Advanced Diploma in Risk Management, Diploma in Sustainable Finance, Post-Graduate Diploma in Financial Services Law, and Institute of Directors qualification) is an Independent Non-Executive Director and Chair, and Compliance, Regulatory & Governance Consultant. She has held non-executive roles for the last 12 years and currently has a portfolio of firms in financial services and the healthcare sector. She also works with a number of regulatory bodies, serving on the Legal Practitioners' Disciplinary Tribunal, and the Pharmacy Regulator's Professional Conduct Committee. She is also a member of, and chairs, Audit and Risk Committees.
Current directorships include the National Treatment Purchase Fund, Alchelyst Limited, GVS Prepaid (Europe) Limited, SW ICAV, and the Irish Fund Directors Association. Prior directorships include the National Standards Authority of Ireland, and Chair of its US subsidiary, NSAI Inc, Investor Compensation Company DAC, and the Compliance Institute.
Executive experience, over more than 30 years, includes Managing Director and Country Head of Compliance for a global bank, Director of Regulatory and Compliance at a leading law firm, and Senior Regulator roles.
Ms. Bowen is a member of the Institute of Directors, Institute of Bankers, and the Compliance Institute.
James Doorley
Helen Kelly
Mick McAteer
Mick McAteer is co-director of The Financial Inclusion and Markets Centre and a director of Action for Financial Inclusion (AfFI). He is Chair of Registry Trust, on the board Consumer Council of Northern Ireland, and a member of the Bank of England's Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) Engagement Forum.
Previously, he was a board member of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA)/Financial Services Authority (FSA), chaired the FCA's External Risk and Strategy Committee (ERSC) and was also on the FCA's Oversight and Audit Committees.
He was Chair of the European Commission's Financial Services User Group (FSUG), a board member of the Financial Reporting Council's Professional Oversight Board, a non-executive director of The Pensions Advisory Service, and a board member of ShareAction. He was Principal Policy Adviser at Which? (formerly known as Consumers' Association) for 13 years and prior to this, he worked for two major fund management firms in London.
Ken Murnaghan
Mr. Murnaghan is a member of the management team of Finance Ireland, a privately owned financial services group specialising in property, motor, SME, and agri-finance. Previous roles include Head of Business Banking at Ulster Bank Group, and a number of other positions in France, Ireland, and Hong Kong with AIB, PWC, and EY.
Mr. Murnaghan is a business graduate of University College Dublin, a fellow of Chartered Accountants Ireland, and a fellow of the Institute of Banking.
Peter Rossiter
Peter Rossiter is an experienced non-executive director following an executive career as a banker in OECD and emerging markets. These included assignments with Citigroup in Ireland and oversees, Irish Bank Resolution Company and AIB, where he was Group Chief Risk officer from 2012-2014. More recently, Peter has been engaged with several fintech firms in executive and non-executive capacities.
Peter is currently an independent non-executive director of The Rehab Group, Owl Payments Europe (a Tripadvisor company) and Monzo Europe.
Peter is a business graduate of Trinity College Dublin, a Chartered Accountant and a Chartered Director.