After a six-month recruitment effort overseen by the Jersey Appointments Commission, the Jersey Financial Services Commission has chosen its next director general, Martin Moloney.

Moloney's curriculum vitae is impressive. He has had a hand in developing regulatory policies for the European Union and at present advises the Central Bank of Ireland, where he has served for the past 16 years, on the subject of risk and regulation. Before that, he ran the markets policy division, the markets supervision division and the legal and finance division. He also has a decade of prior experience at the Irish Department of Finance. He is a member of the Board of the International Organisation of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) and a member of the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA), chairing ESMA's Investment Management Standing Committee. In the past he has chaired the European Systemic Risk Board’s Expert Group on Investment Funds and has represented Ireland on the EU Committee of Securities Regulators.

JFSC Chairman Lord Eatwell is keen to exploit Moloney's wealth of international connections and the fact that (being from Ireland) he is well versed in managing relations between regulators and the funds sector. Moloney will begin his five-year stint on 28 February, although will be taking an active interest in, and contributing to, the JFSC before this date. He will automatically become a member of the JFSC Board of Commissioners, while Julian Lamb, the Director of Registry, will continue to serve as registrar.

The occasion of Moloney's appointment is tinged with sadness as the outgoing director general, John Harris, announced in August that he was stepping down because of bad health and "the risk of burnout." Harris was under so much stress that he had to take two unplanned leaves of absence in the earlier part of last year. He is still at his post at the JFSC but will depart shortly for an easier life as a non-executive director at Crestbridge and, possibly, some other companies. We wish him well.