Margot Gatland

Gatland joined the Financial Markets Authority in December 2017 from the Serious Fraud Office and Meredith Connell. Her enforcement portfolio has sharpened: civil claims against Tower Insurance, litigation involving Rockfort Markets, high-profile Du Val property group prosecution. With CCCFA enforcement transferring to the FMA, her regulatory remit expands. The agency’s increasingly litigious approach—turning to courts to clarify powers—signals aggressive enforcement, though Court of Appeal pushback on SFO warrant overreach serves as cautionary precedent. Gatland’s prominence reflects the FMA’s evolution from passive regulator to active enforcer.

At No. 22, her influence stems from regulatory authority: she decides which breaches warrant prosecution, which settlements are acceptable, and which institutions face public embarrassment. That’s soft power with hard consequences.