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Kirsty Cooper is now running the Financial Conduct Authority’s Listing Authority Advisory Panel. Her appointment as Chair took effect July 1, putting one of the UK’s more experienced financial services veterans at the head of a body that feeds directly into how the FCA shapes primary market policy.
Cooper brings over 30 years in insurance and financial services. She’s held senior positions at Scottish Widows Group, Aon UK Group Limited, and most recently served as Group General Counsel and Company Secretary at Aviva plc — a role that gave her deep exposure to regulatory affairs and corporate governance at scale. That background isn’t incidental. The LAAP exists specifically to advise the FCA on primary market challenges, and the regulator needs someone who’s actually lived through the compliance pressures it’s now designing rules around. Cooper’s probably well-placed for that.
Woodman and Hammerstein Keep Their Seats
Two other panel chairs aren’t going anywhere. Clare Woodman, CEO of Morgan Stanley & Co. International Plc and Head of EMEA, Latin America, and Canada for Morgan Stanley, continues leading the FCA Markets Practitioner Panel from August 1. Matt Hammerstein, CEO of Barclays UK Corporate Bank, stays on as Chair of the FCA Practitioner Panel from the same date. Both reappointments came through the FCA Board, with Treasury approval — the standard process under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000.
Woodman’s track record runs well beyond her title. She’s been involved in industry organizations and sits on the Morgan Stanley International Foundation, giving her a perspective that blends commercial leadership with broader institutional concerns. Her panel’s job is keeping the FCA honest on markets — making sure the regulator’s priorities don’t drift too far from how markets actually function day-to-day.
Hammerstein’s background at Barclays spans retail lending and corporate strategy. That’s a wide lens. He’s seen the bank from multiple angles, which probably makes him useful when the Practitioner Panel has to weigh in on whether an FCA policy is workable in practice or just looks good on paper. His panel is specifically focused on evaluating the FCA’s policy impacts and backing UK competitiveness — two things that don’t always pull in the same direction.
Not much has been said publicly about where these panels go next. No comments on future strategic changes. That’s either a sign of stability or a sign that nobody wants to get ahead of themselves.
Cooper Succeeds Gradden at the LAAP
Cooper takes over from Mandy Gradden, who had been a consistent presence in supporting the FCA’s work through the panel. Gradden’s exit marks a real generational shift in how the LAAP is led, though the panel’s core mandate stays the same — consulting with industry on listing rules, primary market structure, and the FCA’s broader regulatory agenda.
The statutory panels were set up under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 as a formal channel between the regulator and the people it regulates. That’s the whole point. The FCA can’t just write rules in a vacuum and expect them to land well. The panels are how it stays connected to practitioners, gets early warning on what’s unworkable, and — in theory — avoids the kind of regulatory overreach that pushes business elsewhere.
And that last bit matters more than it might seem. The UK’s position as a financial hub isn’t guaranteed. London has faced real pressure from competing centers, and the FCA knows its rule-making has a direct bearing on whether firms choose to list, operate, or expand here. Woodman has been vocal about the panel’s role in maintaining that status. Hammerstein’s focus on UK competitiveness fits the same concern.
Cooper’s appointment lands at a moment when the FCA is still working through a significant overhaul of its listing regime — changes that have been years in the making and that affect everything from how companies come to market to what protections shareholders expect. She’ll be advising on that terrain from day one.
Her Aviva experience is worth dwelling on. Corporate governance at a FTSE-listed insurer isn’t a quiet job. She’s dealt with shareholder expectations, regulatory scrutiny, and the kind of cross-jurisdictional complexity that makes UK primary markets genuinely hard to navigate. That’s the kind of background the LAAP chair probably needs right now.
The FCA’s three statutory panels — the LAAP, the Markets Practitioner Panel, and the Practitioner Panel — each cover different ground but share the same basic function: structured, formal consultation that the regulator is actually required to do. It’s not optional outreach. It’s baked into the law.
So Cooper chairs the LAAP from July 1. Woodman and Hammerstein pick back up from August 1. The panels keep running.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who did Kirsty Cooper replace as Chair of the FCA’s Listing Authority Advisory Panel?
Kirsty Cooper succeeded Mandy Gradden as Chair of the Listing Authority Advisory Panel, with her appointment effective July 1.
What companies do Clare Woodman and Matt Hammerstein lead?
Clare Woodman is CEO of Morgan Stanley & Co. International Plc, and Matt Hammerstein is CEO of Barclays UK Corporate Bank. Both continue their FCA panel roles from August 1.
