Panel members

Chris Pond has worked on consumer and social justice issues for many years, having been CEO of two national charities and a trustee of many others.

He has served on numerous public bodies, including Department of Health, HMRC and the Treasury and has been awarded honorary visiting professorships at two universities.

Chris served as an MP and Work and Pensions Minister before taking over as CEO of Gingerbread: the National Council for One Parent Families and then as Director of Financial Capability with the Financial Services Authority.

He currently chairs TrustMark, the Advisory Board for Money and Mental Health Policy Institute and an asbestos-compensation scheme (Cape Claims Services Ltd).  He is independent director with MOSL, the market operator for business water services, and stepped down from his roles as Chair of the independent Financial Inclusion Commission and advisory roles with Fairer Finance and the Equity Release Council when taking on his new role as Chair.  

Area of particular interest on the Panel

Johnny is interested in the accessibility of individual and corporate general and financial protection insurance products and services, the value that they offer and the benefits and support services that they provide – especially to consumer at moments that matter and in times of vulnerability. In addition, the use made of data and its security.

Role outside the panel

Johnny is an independent consultant and Non Executive Director, a member of the Financial Inclusion Commission, the BIBA Access To Insurance Committee, Building Resilient Households Group and GAIN ( the Group for Autism, Insurance and Neurodiversity.) Additionally, Johnny is a Trustee of the Caudwell Childrens Charity and has advisory roles with the University of Edinburgh “supporting healthy ageing in the workplace”, the Surviving Economic Abuse Charity and the UK Vocational Rehabilitation Association

Positions held in the past

Johnny has worked in the insurance and banking sectors for over 40 years, most recently with Scottish Widows/ Lloyds Banking Group where he led on financial protection and resilience technical support and industry affairs. He has held wider public and industry roles, including the inaugural

Cabinet Office Ambassador for the insurance sector, a member of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries Working Group, adviser to the Chartered Insurance Institute Insuring Women’s Futures programme, TISA Consumer Protection Policy Council chair, member of the Association of British Insurers Protection Committee and Social Care Working Groups plus has extensively supported the financial policy work of a number of Health Charities and Disabled Peoples Organisations.

With expertise in investments, AI, digital assets and technology, Angela serves as the Panel lead for asset management and investments, AI, digital assets (including crypto and stablecoins), and fintech.

Area of particular interest on the Panel

Angela has a strong interest in how SMEs and consumers interact with technology in financial services. She has experience of representing the perspectives of consumers and SMEs, along with knowledge and experience in several key areas of technology and financial services. She is driven by the belief that consumers deserve to be treated with integrity, respect, and fairness in all their financial interactions.

 
Role outside the panel

 
For the past few years, Angela has developed a portfolio career advising multilateral organisations, financial services firms and technology-driven companies on growth strategies and the ethical deployment of emerging technologies.

Angela serves as a Dealmaker at the UK Government’s Office for Investment within the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Technology (BIST). She also serves as an expert investment adviser to the European Commission’s European Innovation Council, its €10 billion flagship programme for developing and scaling Europe’s deep-tech ecosystem. She frequently sits on the advisory boards of venture capital firms, helping their portfolio companies develop growth strategies. This work includes a private projects supporting the international expansion of several companies and the launch of a company that aimed to establish a standardised approach to ESG assessment for private and AIM-listed companies. 

Angela’s other roles include Founder of Brazil Tech Connect, S2C Ventures and Zyndeo; Global Policy Expert for the United Nations Development Programme; Advisor to the NATO DIANA programme; Member of Founders4Schools; and Founding Member of Boardwave, Chief and the Chapter Zero Directors’ Forum in the UK.
 

Positions held in the past

 
Angela has spent most of her career in financial services, including at credit rating agencies such as Moody’s Investors Service and Fitch Ratings, and asset management groups such as BNP Paribas and Schroders. Her experience spans pensions, consumer investments, debt, data, technology and AI. She previously Chaired the Board of Digital Boost Upskilling Ltd, an AI-powered technology platform that drives growth for small businesses through upskilling and mentoring.

Areas of particular interest on the Panel

Katherine has a blend of deep understanding of the regulatory landscape, senior level experience, broad knowledge of financial services and a strong consumer focus and has a particular interest in supporting vulnerable consumers in difficult financial circumstances 

Role outside the panel 

Katherine has been a Trustee and Chair of the Board of Island Advice Centre since 2013, an FCA registered, not-for-profit organisation which provides benefits, housing, and debt advice to consumers in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. 

Katherine also provides independent consulting services on governance topics to small business start-ups.

Positions held in the past 

Katherine, a qualified accountant, has a broad background in financial services, most recently at Société Générale, where she held several senior roles including Managing Director responsible for UK regulatory affairs and ExCo member for UK Compliance, and prior to that, as Executive Director and Chief Operating Officer for SG Securities Services Ltd - which focussed on technology application to wealth management firms to facilitate online retail consumer investments. Katherine was also a Trustee of the company's defined contribution pension scheme.

Areas of particular interest on the Panel

Caroline is interested in working with the panel to ensure that all consumers have equitable access to good financial products and services that they understand and that help them manage their financial lives and improve their financial wellbeing. Caroline is a strong advocate for evidence based decision making and improving outcomes for people.

Positions held in the past 

Caroline started her career in financial services at a high street branch of the Halifax, then a mutual building society offering a full suite of services to consumers. More recently Caroline was Chief Executive of the Institute of Money Advisers whose members deliver debt advice services across the UK. Her last role before joining the panel was CEO of the Money and Pensions Service where she worked with her team across a wide range of Money, Debt, and Pensions services free to consumers.

Areas of particular interest on the Panel

Chris' main area of interest is consumer protection and redress, especially measures that improve consumer protection or facilitate access to effective consumer redress by reflecting how consumers actually behave in practice. In addition, Chris is keen to ensure consumers have the information they need, at the right time and in the right format in order to help consumers make informed decisions when purchasing financial products and services.

Positions held in the past 

Chris is a qualified lawyer, and was most recently Legal and Legal Policy Director at the Competition & Markets Authority, with a particular focus on consumer protection, consumer enforcement and the CMA's market studies and market investigations. Prior to joining the CMA, Chris held various legal roles at Which? where his principal responsibility was delivering all the legal advice necessary to support the organisation’s wide-ranging consumer policy, campaigning and enforcement work. Chris started his career as a competition lawyer at the city law firm, Linklaters  

Areas of particular interest on the Panel

Darina is particularly interested in encouraging and helping financial wellbeing, making financial products more accessible and easier to understand. She brings a strong focus from the savings and mortgage market from her executive career in the mutual building society sector. Based in Belfast, she hopes to bring regional insights to the discussions. 

Roles outside of the Panel 

Darina is a member of Chartered Accountants Ireland Ethics and Governance Committee which aims to foster the understanding and practice of ethical business behaviours and good governance in support of the public interest and economic success. 

She is a Governing Council Member of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS). RICS sets the standard for its members and candidates operating in the development and management of land, real estate, construction and infrastructure.

She is a Board member, Senior Independent Director and Chair of the Audit and Risk committee of Catalyst. Catalyst is a science and technology hub focused on fostering innovation and entrepreneurship. It has built a community-led innovation ecosystem that supports technology-focused start-ups, entrepreneurs and innovators so that they can create, scale and flourish.

Positions held in the past 

Darina qualified as a Chartered Accountant with KPMG. She then moved into the building society sector with a career spanning more than thirty years. She recently retired from the role of Chief Executive of Progressive Building Society after serving in that role for 13 years. Prior to that she was Finance Director. She has served on the Council of the Building Societies Association. The Building Societies Association is the body that represents all 42 UK Building Societies as well as 7 of the largest credit unions.

Areas of particular interest on the Panel

Fliss is particularly interested in how regulation, technology and market structures affect consumers in practice, and in ensuring that innovation delivers better outcomes rather than simply greater choice. She has a particular interest in payments, fintech, financial inclusion and the impact of emerging technologies and data on consumer protection, competition and trust. She brings a strong focus on evidence-based policy and constructive challenge, with a particular interest in ensuring that regulatory frameworks work effectively for consumers who may be less well served by financial services.

Roles outside of the Panel 

Fliss is a Trustee of Standing Together Against Domestic Abuse and a member of the Delivery Oversight Board Committee of Icebreaker One, a non-profit organisation focused on trusted data sharing for public and environmental benefit. She is also a Director of Blue Strawberry Thinking, advising organisations on regulatory strategy, governance, market design and ecosystem development.

Positions held in the past 

Fliss has over 13 years' experience across financial services, payments infrastructure and fintech. She was Head of Legal, Regulatory & Corporate Governance at Faster Payments, where she led governance and regulatory reform for the Access Programme, supporting wider participation and innovation in nationally significant payments infrastructure. She subsequently co-founded Ordo, an FCA-authorised Open Banking fintech, where she led its legal, regulatory, governance and policy work and engaged extensively with the FCA, HM Treasury, the PSR and industry on the development of payments and Open Banking. She is legally trained and began her career as a commercial lawyer.

Areas of particular interest on the Panel

Hayley’s main focus is around pension saving but as her research work includes all forms of everyday engagements with finance, she hopes to contribute broadly to the Panel.

Roles outside of the Panel 

Hayley is a Senior Research Fellow at the Centre for Personal Financial Wellbeing, Aston University. She leads interdisciplinary projects using all forms of data, examining the causes and consequences of financial wellbeing in everyday life. She frequently collaborates with stakeholders including lived experience experts.

Positions held in the past 

Before completing her PhD at the University of Manchester, Hayley worked for 8 years in consulting and project management.

Areas of particular interest on the Panel

Victoria brings a wealth of financial services expertise across banking, insurance and payments. She is particularly keen to ensure future financial innovations lead to advances rather than constraints in consumer access and outcomes, with new technologies being used to better accommodate the broad range of needs and circumstances that people face in their financial lives, be it access to affordable credit, protection products, or payment services.

She has lived experience of the challenges elderly relatives face navigating their financial affairs in an increasingly online world and as a dementia carer.

Roles outside of the Panel 

Drawing on a career spanning over 20 years across the public and private sectors, Victoria is currently an independent consultant supporting ecosystem growth in the UK fintech and insurtech sectors focused on access to finance, partnerships, capacity, and skills.

Positions held in the past 

Victoria started her career in the civil service working on small business policy, access to finance, and banking regulation. Victoria served as Private Secretary to the UK Minister for Industry and brings an international perspective from time spent working at the European Commission. She was also seconded to the establishment of the National Employment Savings Trust (NEST). 

Victoria has since held senior roles across financial services and fintech including at Aviva, Innovate Finance and Tech Nation.

Victoria has previously been Non-Executive Director of Your Community Bank credit union and of her local Age Concern.