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The FCA just made two big calls. Simon Walls gets the permanent executive director of markets job, and Johan Sekora comes in as chief operating officer — both moves aimed at steadying the regulator as global financial conditions stay messy and unpredictable.
Walls isn’t exactly a new face. He’s been holding the markets role on a temporary basis since 2024, so making it permanent is basically a bet on continuity. He joined the FCA back in 2006 — that’s nearly two decades inside the organization — and his fingerprints are on some of the hardest transitions the UK financial system has faced. The LIBOR shift. Brexit. Neither was clean, and neither was fast, but Walls was in the room for both. Before climbing to the top of the wholesale markets division, he ran the sell-side director role and led the wholesale markets department itself. His career didn’t even start at the FCA — he came up through a graduate scheme at the Bank of England and holds qualifications in Economics and Law. That kind of background probably matters when you’re trying to keep a complex market framework from cracking under pressure.
Walls, for his part, said Britain’s financial markets have a long-standing reputation for innovation and integrity, and he’s enthusiastic about pushing those traditions forward through the FCA’s current slate of initiatives. Pretty standard stuff to say publicly, but the sentiment tracks with what the FCA has been signaling for a while — that it wants to be seen as a growth-enabling regulator, not just a rules enforcer.
Sekora Arrives From Stockholm With a Financial Crime Focus
Johan Sekora starts in June. He’s relocating from Stockholm, which isn’t a small ask, and he brings more than 25 years of financial services experience with him. His most recent gig was global head of financial crime prevention at SEB, one of Sweden’s biggest banks. That role alone would be enough to get attention, but Sekora also chaired SAMLIT — a collaboration between the Swedish banking sector and the Swedish Police specifically designed to tackle financial crime through coordinated, cross-sector action. That’s not a typical résumé line. It’s the kind of operational, real-world coalition-building that looks very different from standard compliance work.
And before SEB, Sekora spent roughly two decades at HSBC, where he held the global chief operating officer role for regulatory compliance. Two decades. That’s a serious stretch of time inside one of the world’s most scrutinized banks. His degree is in Politics and Parliamentary Studies from Leeds University, which seems like an odd fit for a financial crime specialist — but it probably helps when you’re navigating the political dimensions of cross-border regulatory work.
The FCA clearly wants someone who can push technology into the fight against financial crime. Sekora fits that profile. He’s been vocal about using tech-driven solutions and industry collaboration as the main weapons against increasingly sophisticated financial crime networks. The FCA has been building out its own data and analytics capabilities for a while now, so Sekora’s arrival probably accelerates that push.
Nikhil Rathi’s Pitch for a Smarter Regulator
FCA Chief Executive Nikhil Rathi tied the two appointments together directly, saying they’re central to the FCA’s strategy of becoming a smarter regulator. That phrase — smarter regulator — has been Rathi’s go-to framing for a while now. It’s shorthand for a regulator that uses better data, moves faster, and doesn’t pile unnecessary friction onto markets that need room to grow. Walls and Sekora are apparently the people Rathi thinks can deliver that.
It’s worth noting the FCA isn’t operating in a vacuum. Wholesale markets reform is a live project. The pressure to stay competitive with other financial centers hasn’t eased. And financial crime — whether it’s fraud, money laundering, or increasingly crypto-adjacent schemes — keeps getting more technically complex. The FCA needs people who’ve actually managed those problems at scale, not just theorized about them.
Walls brings the institutional memory and the wholesale markets expertise. Sekora brings the operational muscle and the financial crime credentials. Together they’re meant to cover a lot of ground.
No start date was given for Walls’ permanent appointment — he was already in the seat, so presumably the transition is seamless. Sekora’s June start gives him a few weeks before the full summer calendar kicks in, which is probably intentional.
The FCA didn’t specify what immediate policy changes, if any, come attached to either appointment. Unclear whether there are structural changes to either division planned alongside the leadership shifts. What’s certain is that both Walls and Sekora are stepping into roles with real weight — the markets directorate touches virtually every corner of UK wholesale finance, and the COO position shapes how the entire organization actually runs day to day.
Sekora chaired SAMLIT, the Swedish banking-police collaboration on financial crime, before accepting the FCA role.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is Simon Walls and what is his new role at the FCA?
Simon Walls is now the permanent executive director of markets at the FCA, a position he had held temporarily since 2024. He joined the FCA in 2006 and previously worked at the Bank of England.
When does Johan Sekora start as FCA chief operating officer?
Johan Sekora starts in June, relocating from Stockholm. He previously served as global head of financial crime prevention at SEB and spent roughly two decades at HSBC as global COO for regulatory compliance.
