BANKING CONSUMER CODES REVIEW GROUP MEMBERSHIP ANNOUNCED

The members of the Review Group that will assess whether banking services codes are delivering sufficiently strong benefits to consumers were announced today by Economic Secretary Melanie Johnson as :

Michelle Childs Head of Policy Department, Consumers? Association
Adrian Coles Director General, Building Societies? Association
Janet Connor Director of Savings, Banking, and Consumer Credit, Abbey National plc
Gerard Lemos Independent Director, Banking Code Standards Board; Director, Mortgage Code Compliance Board
Stan Mendham Executive Chair, Forum for Private Business
Brian Morris Director of Consumer and Retail, British Bankers Association
Teresa Perchard Head of Social Policy, National Association of Citizens Advice Bureaux
Neil Simpson Deputy personal finance editor, Financial Mail on Sunday; thisismoney.com

Miss Johnson announced previously that the Review Group will be chaired by DeAnne Julius, an external member of the Bank of England Monetary Policy Committee. All members will serve in a personal capacity.

Miss Johnson said:

" I am pleased that DeAnne Julius will be joined in conducting this valuable review by a high calibre team with such wide experience of consumer related issues. This ranges from the boardroom to direct consumer service at branch level; dealing with and commenting on specific consumer concerns and complaints; and representing the interests of small businesses.

"Their expertise and experience will help to ensure that the review produces a fully rounded analysis of how industry codes can be developed to deliver the improvements for consumers essential to meeting public concerns, and to taking forward issues raised recently by Don Cruickshank in his report on banking in the UK."

NOTES FOR EDITORS

1. Miss Johnson announced, in answer to a Parliamentary Question on 8 November, that Dr. DeAnne Julius would chair the Banking Services Consumer Codes Review Group set up as part of the Government response to the Cruickshank Report (HM Treasury press release 128/00).

2. The Review Group will examine:

whether the voluntary codes are delivering sufficiently strong benefits to consumers;
what scope there is to introduce greater independence and consumer representation in the drawing up of codes;
what role there is for the Ombudsman in influencing or determining standards for consumers;
whether greater information disclosure can be achieved without the need for further regulation.

3. The members of the Review Group are:

DeAnne Julius (chair) : full time member of the MPC since September 1997. Previously held positions in the private sector, including Chief Economist of British Airways and Royal Dutch Shell. Currently member of the National Learning and Skills Council, the Funding Options Review Group of the Committee of Vice Chancellors and Principals and Vice Chairman of the Institute of Development Studies at the University of Sussex.
Michelle Childs : currently Head of the Policy Department at Consumers' Association. Previously a policy advisor on convergence and digital television for OFTEL and a solicitor in a City law firm.
Adrian Coles : joined the Building Societies? Association 1979; Director General since 1993. Director General of the Council of Mortgage Lenders 1993 - 1996. Represented the BSA on the Executive Committee of the European Mortgage Federation and the Council of the International Union for Housing Finance since 1993. An industry representative on the Banking Code Standards Board since its formation in 1999.
Janet Connor : Director of Savings, Banking, and Consumer Credit at Abbey National plc. Before joining the Abbey National Head Office, spent four years working in the branch network. Previously, spent eight years working for J Sainsbury plc.
Gerard Lemos : partner at social researchers Lemos & Crane, researching social housing, neighbourhood renewal, racial equality and people with special needs. Author of books on social policy and numerous reports and articles. Independent director of the Banking Code Standards Board and the Mortgage Code Compliance Board, and member of the boards of the British Council and London International Festival of Theatre. Formerly Chair of the Arts Council of England's cultural diversity committee and the Vice-Chair of Homeless International.
Stan Mendham OBE : chartered engineer; founder and Executive Chair of the Forum of Private Business; UK representative and director of the European Association of Craft and Small and Medium Sized Enterprises; Chair of the International Small Business Congress; and former chair of the SME Policy Group at the British Standards Institution. In 1999 he was awarded the OBE for services to small business.
Brian Morris : Director of Consumer and Retail at the BBA. Responsibilities include the Banking Code; retail investment business; and EU consumer issues (chairing the consumer affairs committee of the European Banking Federation); led the recent BBA Banking Code review. Previously spent six years at HM Treasury.
Teresa Perchard : Head of Social Policy at the National Association of Citizens Advice Bureaux (NACAB), managing the development of policy on a range of social and consumer policy issues, including debt, financial exclusion and consumer protection. Previously had over 12 years experience of developing and implementing policy on regulation, consumer protection and consumer representation at the Office of the Rail Regulator, Office of Water Services and National Consumer Council.
Neil Simpson : personal finance and City journalist for around 12 years, Deputy Personal Finance Editor of the Mail on Sunday, and recently acting editor of Associated Newspapers finance website, thisismoney.co.uk. Former personal finance editor of the Sunday Telegraph, has worked for the Daily Mirror, Sunday Mirror, and Money Management magazine and written for the Daily Star. Current national newspaper personal finance journalist of the year.

4. Don Cruickshank's report Competition in "UK Banking: A Report to the Chancellor of the Exchequer" was published on 20 March 2000. It is available on the Banking Review website, together with press releases issued by the Banking Review team.

External links

Banking Review

5. The Government response to the Cruickshank Report was published on 4 August.

Internal links

Press notice: Government response to Cruikshank report

6. Media enquiries should be addressed to Charles Keseru at the Treasury press office on 020 7270 5188.