Bank advisory group named

DETAILS OF who will be on a group which has been set up to advise the Irish Central Bank on protecting financial services’ consumers have been announced.

The Consumer Advisory Group was named yesterday as Michael Culloty, Dermot Jewell, Elaine Kempson, Bill Knight and Dr Anthony Walsh.

Members were appointed by the Central Bank and will serve on an unpaid voluntary basis for three years.

Michael Culloty is national social policy and communications officer of the Money, Advice and Budgeting Service (Mabs), a government-funded organisation which helps people to manage their money problems.

Dermot Jewell is chief executive of the Consumers Association of Ireland and also chairs the Financial Services Ombudsman Council and the Irish European Consumer Centre.

Elaine Kempson is a UK-based independent consultant, a professor emeritus at the University of Bristol. She has worked on studies for the World Bank and OECD and is a non-executive director of the UK Financial Ombudsman Service.

Canadian based independent consultant Bill Knight was former commissioner of the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada. He established the International Forum for Consumer Regulators and has experience of the Canadian credit union sector.

Dr Anthony Walsh is the chief executive of the Institute of Bankers in Ireland and former professor of accounting and dean of the business school at Dublin City University.

The advisory group was established under the Central Bank Reform Act 2010 to advise the bank on the performance of its functions and exercise of powers in relation to consumers of financial services. It was appointed by the Central Bank and therefore does not come under the altered rules for appointments to State boards announced by the Government on Tuesday.