Yahoo Finance Adamson FCA JP Morgan Board
A former top executive at the City regulator is joining the board of JP Morgan's private banking arm two years after he oversaw a fine imposed on the business for inadequate client advice.
Sky News has learnt that Clive Adamson, who stepped down as the Financial Conduct Authority's (FCA) director of supervision late last year, is to become a non-executive director of JP Morgan International Bank, the legal entity which oversees JP Morgan's wealth management operations in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
Mr Adamson's role is subject to the approval of the other UK banking watchdog, the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) but was due to be announced internally by JP Morgan on Friday, sources close to the bank said.
Mr Adamson, a long-serving regulator who was responsible for overseeing the major UK banks in the period leading up to and during the financial crisis, left the FCA in the wake of a report which criticised the regulator's handling of a media briefing about its plans to millions of closed-life insurance policies.
He had been considering whether to leave the FCA for some time and his departure was not directly connected to the report, sources insisted at the time.
Although he was criticised by MPs for the FCA's supervision of the Co-operative Bank and its decision to approve the appointment of Paul Flowers as its chairman, Mr Adamson is a respected figure in the industry.
The JP Morgan International Bank role will be the second board position he has taken since leaving the FCA, after he was appointed as a non-executive director of Prudential (HKSE: 2378.HK - news) 's UK operation.
In addition to his position on the private bank's board, Mr Adamson will also act as a senior advisor to JP Morgan's broader business with a remit to review and make recommendations about "internal processes relating to a number of regulatory and risk issues", a memo from two senior executives said.
He will report in that capacity to Sally Dewar, a former colleague at the City watchdog who now heads JP Morgan's regulatory affairs function in EMEA, according to the communication from Daniel Pinto, chief executive of its corporate and investment bank, and Mary Erdoes, chief executive of JP Morgan Asset Management.
In May 2013, the FCA fined JP Morgan International Bank just over £3m for systems and controls failings over its provision of retail investment advice and portfolio investment services.
The regulator said the "failings persisted for two years and were not corrected until the FCA brought them to the firm’s attention in the course of its thematic review into wealth management firms and the suitability of their advice. The FCA identified a number of issues with JPMIB’s processes and an inability to demonstrate client suitability from its client files."
