James Crosby (FSA)

Sir James Robert Crosby (born 1956) is the current Deputy Chairman of the Financial Services Authority, the financial services regulator in the United Kingdom. Prior to his appointment to the FSA, he was the chief executive of the HBOS banking group.

Education

Crosby was educated in the Lancaster Royal Grammar School between 1967 and 1974. After leaving the school, Crosby continued his studies in mathematics at Brasenose College, Oxford, before qualifying as a Fellow of the Faculty of Actuaries in 1980.

Career

After working for financial services company Scottish Amicable for ten years from 1977, and founding wealth management firm St James Place plc. in 1991, [ [http://www.fsa.gov.uk/pages/about/who/board/crosby.shtml James Crosby ] ] Crosby joined the Halifax bank in 1994 as Managing Director of Halifax Life. [ [http://www.hbosplc.com/investors/results/annualreports/2000/docs/board.html Halifax Annual Report ] ] Five years later, he became the chief executive of Halifax plc, and in 2001 Crosby became the first chief executive of the newly-formed HBOS Group after overseeing the merger between Halifax plc and the Bank of Scotland. [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/1312047.stm BBC News | BUSINESS | BoS and Halifax agree merger ] ] Crosby left this position in July 2006, [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/4583198.stm BBC NEWS | Business | HBOS chief executive to step down ] ] leaving HBOS as the fourth largest bank in the United Kingdom in terms of market capitalisation. In 2006, Crosby also received a knighthood for services to the financial industry. [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/5087482.stm BBC NEWS | Business | Easyjet founder Stelios knighted ] ]

After HBOS

On 11 July, 2006, Crosby was appointed by the then Chancellor of the Exchequer, Gordon Brown, to lead the Government's Public Private Forum on Identity Management, a scheme designed to counter problems such as identity fraud. [ [http://80.69.6.120/newsroom_and_speeches/press/2006/press_51_06.cfm Press: 2006-51 ] ]

In addition to non-executive roles at the FSA and television company ITV, Crosby is also a trustee of the British charity Cancer Research UK. [ [http://info.cancerresearchuk.org/news/archive/pressreleases/2008/january/402363 Cancer Research UK : Sir James Crosby joins Cancer Research UK's Governing Council ] ]

In April 2008, Crosby was appointed by Chancellor Alastair Darling to head up a Working Group of mortgage industry experts to advise the Government on how to improve the functioning of the mortgage market.

References