Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Kris Faafoi today confirmed Mark Todd as the new Chairman of the Financial Markets Authority (FMA), and Chris Swasbrook as an associate member. Mr Todd takes over from Murray Jack, whose term expires at the end of April 2019.
"I want to thank Murray for his contribution to the FMA since he was first appointed as a member in 2011 and his strong and steady leadership after he became chair in 2014," Kris Faafoi says.
"Mark's appointment will provide the FMA with continuity as he has been on the Board for the last three years playing a key role on the Audit and Risk Committee. His experience will be highly useful for the FMA's work across the financial sector."
New associate member Chris Swasbrook has a strong understanding of international and New Zealand capital markets and the broader industry.
Mr Swasbrook is currently Managing Director of Elevation Capital Management Limited and a member of the NZX Listing Sub-Committee and NZ Markets Disciplinary Tribunal. His extensive experience working in capital markets has given him in-depth insight on market issues, combined with strong technical knowledge.
Mr Swasbrook will become a full member of the FMA Board from June 2019 as another member steps down. Both Mr Todd and Mr Swasbrook have been appointed for five-year terms.
Note to editors:
Mark Todd has been a member of FMA Board since 2015. He has more than 20 years' experience in financial markets regulation, and has held governance roles with both listed and unlisted companies. During 15 years as a Legal Partner at Bell Gully, Mr Todd was one of New Zealand's leading funds management lawyers, with particular emphasis on regulatory matters. He co-founded Anti-Money Laundering Solutions and chairs Mint Asset Management. He is also the Customer Advocate at Westpac New Zealand. Mr Todd will resign his current roles prior to taking over as FMA Chair. He has an LLB Hons.
Christopher (Chris) Swasbrook is the Founder and Managing Director of Elevation Capital Management Limited. He was previously a Partner at Goldman Sachs JBWere Pty Limited, Co-Head of Institutional Equities at Goldman Sachs JBWere (NZ) Limited, and Foundation Broker and Full Member of the New Zealand Exchange Limited. He is currently a member of the NZX Listing Sub-Committee (since 2008) and a member of the NZ Markets Disciplinary Tribunal (since 2013). He has a BCom (Economics).
