Margaret Cole, managing director and board member of the Financial Services Authority (FSA), tendered her resignation from the top post in February, with fresh speculation that she could return to private practice. Cole has already been linked to a Magic Circle firm and a US firm.
She leaves the UK financial watchdog at the end of March after almost seven years, taking five-month’s gardening leave.
While at the FSA, Cole made her name taking a tough stance against some of the City’s biggest financial institutions and had some notable wins, including putting former Cazenove partner Malcolm Calvert behind bars in 2010 for insider trading and handing out 11 convictions in 2011.
‘With help, I have created a successful enforcement platform to take into the UK’s new regulatory authorities.’
Margaret Cole, FSA
Her next move is one of the most highly anticipated in the City, with rumours linking her to various institutions, including Allen & Overy and Shearman & Sterling.
However, an A&O spokesman told LB that Cole had not held talks with the firm, while Shearman declined to comment.
News of her departure from the FSA follows two years of intense market speculation over whether she’d remain with the UK watchdog after losing out to Martin Wheatley for the chief executive post at the newly created Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). Later this year, the FSA will be split into two parts, with the enforcement division becoming the FCA and the supervisory side of the regulator coming under the Bank of England’s purview.
Of her departure, Cole said: ‘It has been a challenging but rewarding few years and I believe, with the help of a team of quality people, I have created a successful enforcement platform to take into the UK’s new regulatory authorities.
‘The time has come for me to seek a fresh challenge, knowing that I leave the continuation of a winning strategy in safe hands.’
‘She is a hugely talented lady and now has invaluable experience,’ commented one City partner. ‘She is a great candidate who will go to an organisation because of her brains and not because of her contacts.’
Prior to joining the FSA, Cole was a litigation partner at White & Case for 14 years in the firm’s London office and a partner at Stephenson Harwood between 1990 and 1995.
Her enforcement division, where she managed 450 staff, also handed out an impressive number of fines during her tenure. In 2010/11 the FSA raised £91.2m in fines from UK financial institutions, marking a significant rise from the previous year when the watchdog raised £38.4m.