FMSB Names Conduct & Ethics Co-Chairs

The Financial Markets Standards Board (FMSB) has named co-chairs to its Conduct & Ethics Committee to replace the outgoing Tracey McDermott.

Gareth Murphy, group chief risk officer at Abrdn and Alison Higgins, markets head for UK, Europe, and the Americas and global head of control for markets at Standard Chartered Bank, are taking on the role of joint chairs. Murphy has been on FMSB’s Advisory Council since 2023 and has also played an active part in the working groups of the Conduct & Ethics Committee over the past two years. Higgins joined the Conduct & Ethics Committee last year and chairs its newly-established working group examining unauthorised trading.

McDermott, former group head, conduct, financial crime & compliance at Standard Chartered Bank, has chaired the committee for the past four and a half years. She retired from the bank at the end of 2024.

“FMSB is a highly effective forum for bringing together senior practitioners from across wholesale markets to develop industry standards and guidance,” says Murphy. “Cross-industry collaboration on conduct and ethics continues to be of vital importance as markets evolve and is often a better approach than additional regulation. Working with Alison, I look forward to harnessing the deep expertise among FMSB members to find ways to support firms with these challenges.”

Higgins adds, “Under Tracey the committee produced valuable work on areas such as applying the 3 Lines Model, how firms collect and use conduct and culture data and front office supervision of wholesale trading. I look forward to continuing this trajectory. The issue of unauthorised trading is particularly pertinent amid rapid developments in technology and our working group on this topic is already developing good practice guidance to support firms in managing these risks.”