The Financial Markets Authority (FMA) – Te Mana Tātai Hokohoko – has appointed its current Head of Enforcement, Karen Chang, as Acting General Counsel until the FMA’s new Chief Executive joins next year.
The interim appointment follows the appointment of Liam Mason, the current General Counsel, as Acting Chief Executive. Mr Mason will take up the Acting CE role after the current Chief Executive Rob Everett leaves the FMA at the end of October.
As Acting General Counsel, Ms Chang will lead the policy and governance, corporate legal, investigations and enforcement functions for the FMA and joins the executive team.
Previously a Senior Crown prosecutor at Meredith Connell, Ms Chang joined the FMA as Head of Enforcement in 2017. She has extensive experience in commercial litigation, regulatory litigation and criminal prosecution, in New Zealand, Australia and New York.
Ms Chang has been responsible for executing the FMA enforcement strategy, leading cases ranging from fair dealing breaches and insider trading, through to AML/CFT contraventions and several fraud cases.
Margot Gatland, a manager in the Enforcement team, will be appointed as Acting Head of Enforcement while Ms Chang carries out her new role. Ms Gatland joined the FMA in 2017 from the Serious Fraud Office and has a background in regulatory, criminal and civil litigation predominantly acting for the Crown.
The changes take effect on 1 November, when Mr Everett finishes his seven-and-a-half-year tenure as Chief Executive at the FMA. Samantha Barrass was earlier this month and will join the regulator in January 2022, subject to COVID 19 practicalities.
