Simon Allen to chair Financial Markets Authority

NZX chairman Simon Allen will be the chairman of the new Financial Markets Authority.

Commerce Minister Simon Power made the announcement this morning.

Mr Allen is the chairman of Crown Fibre Holdings, a former chairman of NZX, and the founder and a former managing director of ABN AMRO New Zealand.

“He is a highly regarded investment banker with more than 20 years’ experience in governance and financial markets and has exactly the credentials the new regulator needs. With his expertise in executive leadership, strategy development, and general commercial transactions I’m confident he will set the right culture for the FMA," Mr Power said.

“This is something we must get right, and with Mr Allen at the helm, the FMA will be well-placed to deliver on its role of rebuilding public confidence to invest in our financial markets after the global financial crisis and the collapse of finance companies.

Mr Allen will be appointed for a two-year term starting at the establishment of the FMA, with the part-time.

Mr Allen was the founder and former managing director of ABN AMRO New Zealand, which he formed as a greenfields operation in 1988. He has advised the Crown on the sale of Contact Energy, and has been involved in a wide range of activities involving the capital markets. He was chair of NZX from 2001 until 2008.

He currently chairs Crown Fibre Holdings, which was established to manage the Crown’s investment in ultra-fast broadband infrastructure.

NBR staff
Wed, 09 Feb 2011

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Simon Allen to chair Financial Markets Authority

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