The Lending Standards Board (LSB) has chosen its next Chair as it continues its vital work driving fair outcomes for financial services customers.

Ken Scott will replace current Chair Chris Pond, when he reaches the end of his six-year term on 1 April 2023.

Mr Scott has extensive experience in the financial services sector, having spent many years working in HSBC’s commercial bank, where his key focus was driving improved customer outcomes. As Chief Executive of Hamptons International, he led the estate agency’s turnaround, and then went on to run a major portion of the nonprime lending activities for Citigroup in the UK and Irish Republic.

Subsequent executive roles included Managing Director of MG Capital, an early fin-tech that Mr Scott floated on the Alternative Investment Market (AIM), and Chief Executive of AIM-listed training software provider ILX Group, which he built into a leading international skills-based training supplier.

Mr Scott’s current appointments include the non-executive chair of JLC Distribution, and a senior independent trustee at St John’s Foundation, a Bath-based charity supporting vulnerable members of the local Bath & NE Somerset community.

This appointment follows a successful six-year tenure by Chris Pond, who took over the role from (Lord) David Hunt in March 2017. Significant events during Chris Pond’s chairmanship include the introduction and development of the Standards of Lending Practice for business customers, the first protection of its kind; and the Contingent Reimbursement Model Code (CRM Code), the UK’s only regulation dedicated to detecting, preventing, and responding to Authorised Push Payment (APP) scams.

Chris Pond said: “Financial services and its regulatory landscape are fast-moving and ever-changing. Ken Scott’s deep sector and commercial experience help him to understand the challenges faced by customers, and by the firms which serve them.

“Ken’s career to date includes experience working on the banking frontline, alongside strategic and charitable roles. I very much look forward to working with Ken over the next six months until I hand my responsibilities over to him.”

Ken Scott, Chair-elect of the LSB, said: “The LSB has a vital remit: to drive fair outcomes for personal and business customers within financial services, through oversight of the Standards and Codes that it administers. I am really looking forward to working alongside this passionate and knowledgeable team, as we continue to evolve alongside the banking, lending, and payment sectors.”