Osborne Closes In On New City Watchdog Chief

George Osborne is closing in on the appointment of a successor to Martin Wheatley, the former head of the City regulator.

Sky News understands that the Chancellor is expected to decide within weeks on the new chief executive of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).

Mark Branson, the chief executive of Switzerland's Financial Market Supervisory Authority (Finma), is among the candidates who are understood to have been sounded out about the role, although it was unclear on Thursday whether he was one of a handful of candidates interviewed as part of the process.

Tracey McDermott, the acting chief executive and a long-standing UK regulator, and Greg Medcraft, chairman of the Australian Securities and Investments Commission, were interviewed as part of the search process being overseen by the boardroom headhunter Zygos, insiders said.

At least one other candidate made it to the shortlist, they added.

A number of prominent British figures from the banking sector and regulatory sphere have been rumoured to be candidates, including Ed Richards, the former chief executive of Ofcom, although some of the reported names have distanced themselves from the process.

The search for Mr Wheatley's replacement is a central preoccupation for the City as the financial services sector looks for clues about the future tone of regulation from the main conduct watchdog.

Mr Wheatley, who infamously suggested that his approach would be to "shoot first and ask questions later", was ousted in the summer after Mr Osborne decided that sufficient time had passed since the financial crisis to require a "new settlement" between the City and regulators.

The continuing volume of misconduct penalties being announced by regulators has, however, prompted criticism that the Chancellor risks sending too lenient a message to the City.

Among the new chief executive's most important tasks is likely to be to oversee the implementation of a deadline for claims for payment protection insurance mis-selling - in financial terms, the biggest scandal in British banking history.

One source said on Thursday that Mr Branson, who has been Finma's chief executive only since April (LSE: 0N69.L - news) 2014, had been interviewed for the vacant FCA post, although it was unclear whether that was the case.

A Finma spokesman said: "Mark Branson is very committed to Finma and his CEO, role and is not available for other positions."

Mr Branson faced calls from Swiss politicians to resign in 2012 - when he served as Finma's head of banking supervision - over his role as a UBS (NYSEArca: FBGX - news) executive when the bank was involved in efforts to manipulate benchmark interest rates.

The FCA and Treasury declined to comment.