Pond will move over from his current position as chief executive for the National Council of One Parent Families, to this newly created role at the FSA which has come about following the growing importance of the National Strategy for Financial Capability.
He will take up his post in December and will bring a wealth of experience to the FSA. Between 1997 and 2005 he was the MP for Gravesham; between 2003-2005 he was a Minister at the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP); and prior to this was the Chair of the Low Pay Unit. In recent years, Chris has served on the FSA's Working Group on Families and the Steering Group on Financial Capability. He is also part of the Thoresen Review Reference Group.
Hector Sants, chief executive of the FSA, said: "I am delighted to welcome Chris to the FSA. He is already involved in our work on financial capability through his membership of the FSA's Financial Capability Steering Group and his experience in public policy will make him a great asset to the FSA."
Chris Pond added: "This is an exciting time to be joining the FSA. The National Strategy for Financial Capability is growing in momentum and profile. There are many challenges ahead; the FSA has demonstrated its commitment to the strategy by the £17.1 million spend this year, and the pledge to keep financial capability high on the agenda with a budget of up to £20million in each of the years up to 2010/11."
Anne Kiem, director of external affairs at the ifs School of Finance, responded to this news: “We welcome the creation of this new post which demonstrates a clear intent to build on the existing FSA work on improving financial capability.
"Chris has a solid background in this area, having served on the FSA Steering group on financial capability, as well as the family group. As a former MP we trust that he will also be able to ensure Government takes seriously the need for far better levels of financial capability than is currently planned.
"We look forward to working closely with Chris in the coming months and years to achieve our shared ambition of significantly increasing the financial capability of the nation.”
