Trustee The OBIE appoints Theresa Casey as new General Counsel, marking major governance milestone 17 March 2022
The appointment of Theresa Casey as General Counsel will be critical in embedding, and driving forward, the considerable changes the OBIE has made to its governance, management, processes and policies, alongside workplace practices and culture.Trustee’s pledge to listen, learn and act swiftly is demonstrated not only in the way the independent investigation’s recommendations have been met, but also by making additional changes as recommended by the OBIE’s new leadership, its new Board, and the CMA. The organisation has also taken steps to ensure appropriate external validation to provide the Trustee, Board, and wider OBIE organisation with the support to address and action the recommendations of the Alison White Report as quickly as possible. The Open Banking Implementation Entity (OBIE) has today announced the appointment of Theresa Casey as General Counsel to strengthen the senior leadership team. Ms Casey is a highly qualified General Counsel, with strong corporate governance, transformation, and financial services experience, most recently as General Counsel and Company Secretary at N Brown Group Plc. This latest senior hire follows a number of key leadership appointments in recent months. In February, Henk Van Hulle was appointed as the organisation’s first Chief Executive Officer. The creation of this new position was part of a package of changes to deliver a management framework and strong, effective governance for the OBIE. Towards the end of 2021, two independent non-executive directors, Barbara Ridpath, and Jeremy Newman, were appointed to the OBIE Board. Since joining the OBIE, their considerable experience and expertise has already played a positive and impactful role in strengthening the organisation’s governance, while also providing independent oversight and scrutiny. Significant work has also been underway to review the OBIE’s HR agenda, corporate governance, conflicts of interest, culture and values, and procurement processes. In January 2021, the OBIE appointed a new People and HR Director, Debbie Lombard, to lead on developing HR practices and workplace culture, and ensure these are understood and adopted across the organisation. The appointments to the senior leadership team follow changes introduced since the publication of the Alison White Report. Further to the report’s release, the OBIE moved quickly to appoint PA Consulting to provide recommendations on where action was needed. Amongst the key recommendations of this analysis was to ensure the provision of leadership and senior-level appointments, in order to assess, address and action the issues identified in the report. Furthermore, the HR, culture and people agenda, organisational structure, corporate governance and conflicts of interest were reviewed. Much of this work is already in train and being completed at pace, and will be subject to continuous review. Charlotte Crosswell, who was appointed as Chair and Trustee of the OBIE in October 2021, welcomed Ms Casey’s appointment. She said: “I am delighted to welcome Theresa as the OBIE’s new General Counsel and believe her experience will further strengthen the leadership of the OBIE. This completes the additions to our senior team and will be critical in embedding and driving forward the significant changes we have made to our governance, management, processes, and policies, alongside our workplace practices and culture. When I joined the OBIE, I promised to listen, learn and act, and this remains my focus, as well as ensuring that the progress we have made to date, keeps advancing.” Henk Van Hulle, CEO of the OBIE said: “Completing the appointments to our senior leadership team strengthens the OBIE’s governance as we prepare for our next phase and the imminent CMA decision on the future arrangements for open banking. We are privileged to have a very talented team at the OBIE, and I thank them, past and present, for all of their hard work to establish open banking in the UK and bring its benefits to over 5 million consumers and small businesses.” Ms Casey said: “I am pleased to be joining the OBIE at this time and I am committed to working with the Board and CEO, and the rest of the management team to ensure the OBIE of today, and whatever new entity we transition to, remains a culturally progressive, inclusive, organisation with strong governance and is truly fit for the next stage.” About Us Open Banking Ltd is the entity set up by the CMA9 as ordered by the CMA in 2016 to deliver open banking. Its trading name is Open Banking Implementation Entity (OBIE). The OBIE is funded by the CMA9 (Allied Irish Bank, Bank of Ireland, Barclays, Danske, HSBC, Lloyds Banking Group, Nationwide, Natwest Group and Santander). The OBIE works with the CMA9, as well as challenger banks, financial technology companies, third party providers and consumer groups. The OBIE’s role is to: Enforce the obligations on the CMA9 under the CMA OrderDesign the specifications for the Application Programme Interfaces (APIs) that banks and building societies use to securely provide open bankingSupport regulated third party providers and banks and building societies to use the Open Banking standardsCreate security and messaging standardsManage the Open Banking Directory which allows regulated participants like banks, building societies and third-party providers to enrol in open bankingProduce guidelines for participants in the open banking ecosystemSet out the process for managing disputes and complaints. For enquiries, please contact: CiceroOpenBankingPR@cicero-group.com, 020 7297 5965