The Business On... Carol Sergeant, chair of financial products steering group
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Who is she and what is she heading?
Ms Sergeant is a financial services all-rounder. She worked at the Bank of England and then at the Financial Services Authority before jumping ship for Lloyds TSB in 2003 as head of risk. She quit Lloyds last November and has now resurfaced to chair a Treasury steering group to come up with simple financial products that consumers can understand.
What qualifies her for the job?
The official line is that she has a wealth of experience spanning regulation and retail banking at Lloyds. She also has the personality to rally a group including senior people from the FSA and the Treasury as well as from Which?, the Association of British Insurers and other trade bodies.
Hang on a minute, didn't Lloyds...
I know where you're going with this. Yes, Ms Sergeant was head of risk at Lloyds when it was Britain's biggest mis-seller of payment protection insurance. Antonio Horta-Osorio's first big move as Lloyds' chief executive was to write off £3.2bn for the cost of sorting out the mess. So PPI proved quite risky.
Was PPI a simple product?
Not really. It was sold to millions of customers to protect loan payments against unemployment, illness and other bad news. The less simple bit was that it often didn't pay out and it was sold to people, such as the self-employed, who had no hope of ever claiming.
This sounds ridiculous
Maybe so but then again you could argue that Ms Sergeant's experience makes her perfectly qualified for the job. What better person to spot when a product is confusing?
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments