People moves: FCA, Quintet, and M&G Life

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has announced two permanent appointments to its executive team.

Simon Walls has been appointed as permanent executive director, markets. Walls had first taken on the role on a temporary basis in 2024. He will continue working to strengthen the regulator’s approach to wholesale markets and ensure a more resilient financial system. Walls joined the FCA in 2006 and has held senior roles across wholesale markets, including policy, asset management and banking supervision. Meanwhile, Johan Sekora has been appointed as chief operating officer, relocating from Stockholm, to take up the role at the start of June. Sekora will support FCA’s strategy and ambition to be a smarter, more effective regulator. He brings over 25 years’ experience in financial services to the role.

Quintet Private Bank, parent of Brown Shipley, has named Dr. Otto Huber as group chief financial officer and a member of its Authorized Management Committee.

Huber joins Quintet from Bank Vontobel in Switzerland, where he most recently served as head of structured solutions & treasury. Prior to this, he spent more than a decade at Credit Suisse in Zurich and New York, holding a range of senior leadership roles across global treasury and risk management, including global head of liquidity risk. Huber also brings entrepreneurial experience, having served as chief financial officer of Thingstream and as an equity partner in its management buyout, before leading the company’s sale to U‑Blox. He will assume his role at Quintet in June 2026, succeeding Nicholas Harvey.

M&G Life has appointed Steve Sands as advisory relationships director within its Advice business.

In this newly created role, Sands will lead the work with M&G’s advisers, bringing their insight into proposition development to strengthen competitiveness and deliver strong customer outcomes. Sands brings more than 30 years' experience in financial services to the position, joining from Mercer, where he most recently led Private Wealth in the UK. Prior to that, he was UK director of platform distribution and workplace relationships at Standard Life Aberdeen.

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