Nicholas Moore appointed as Chair of the new Financial Regulator Assessment Authority

The Financial Regulator Assessment Authority (FRAA) has appointed former Macquarie Group CEO, Nicholas Moore as its Chair. Treasurer Josh Frydenberg announced the appointment last Friday and also welcomed Gina Cass-Gottlieb, partner at the Competition and Regulation Group of Australian law firm, Gilbert + Tobin, and Craig Drummond, the CEO of Medibank to the FRAA board.

The FRAA was created in April this year to oversee the performance of the Australian Prudential Regulatory Authority - the body regulating the financial services industry - and the Australian Securities and Investments Commission, the national corporate regulator. Its formation is the result of a 2-year Royal Commission looking into misconduct in the banking, superannuation and financial services industry, which found that the two regulators themselves need to have their effectiveness periodically assessed.

Frydenberg said of the appointments, “Together, the inaugural members have an in-depth understanding of Australia’s regulatory framework and first-hand experience working with ASIC and APRA over many years.” He added that all of them possess strong operational experience which will be handy in the evaluation of the operational performance of both ASIC and APRA.

“In establishing the FRAA, the Morrison government is ensuring that Australia’s financial regulators will continue to be strong and effective, maintaining the community’s trust and confidence in the financial system,” Mr Frydenberg concluded.