The surprise move came after Wheatley learned that his appointment to the FCA Board would not be renewed by the Treasury, according to sources. The FCA chief executive has to be a member of the Board.
Explaining his decision not to reappoint Wheatley, chancellor George Osborne said in a stamtement: “Britain needs a tough, strong financial conduct regulator. Martin Wheatley has done a brilliant job of launching the FCA in tough circumstances. “
“Now that phase is complete, the government believes that different leadership is required to build on those foundations and take the organisation to the next stage of its development. “
Wheatley will be replaced on an interim basis by Tracey McDermott, who was only promoted to the position of head of supervision in January this year from her role as head of enforcement, while the search for a permanent chief executive takes place.
“I am pleased that Tracey McDermott has agreed to take on the role of acting chief executive and I look forward to working with her,” Osborne said.
Meanwhile the UK reguolator said Wheatley would continue to act as an adviser to the Board until January 31 2016 with a particular emphasis on the implementation of the Fair and Effective Markets Review, which he co-chaired.
John Griffith-Jones, chairman of the FCA praised Wheatley’s work in leading the FCA over the past four years.
“We owe him a lot and I and my Board would like to thank him for his great efforts in setting up the organisation and for the contribution he has made to putting conduct so firmly at the top of the financial services agenda,” Griffith-Jones said in a statement on Friday.
“I am pleased that we will continue to benefit from his wisdom and expertise over the next few months.”
He added: “I am pleased that we are able to call on someone of Tracey’s ability and stature to take up the post of Acting Chief Executive. I am grateful to her for taking on this role and I know she will do a great job.”
The FCA has been responsible for the conduct supervision of all regulated financial firms and the prudential supervision of those not supervised by the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) since April 2013.
