The Personal Finance Society (PFS) will have an independent governance review conducted by Integrity Governance.
The PFS said that the review will be an “objective, independent assessment” and will cover the PFS chief executive’s role, the PFS board’s operations and structure and advice provided to the board by both the Chartered Insurance Institute (CII) governance team and other relevant CII advisers.
It will also look at the PFS board decisions taken as a result of this advice. Finally, the review will set out recommendations for how PFS governance structure and operations can be further strengthened going forward.
A report of the review will be available at the end of April.
The review comes following a consultation with PFS members, conducted in January 2023. The findings of the consultation have been reviewed by the PFS board and presented to the CII board. The PFS board will await the CII board’s response to the consultation and the governance review, with the final phase of this work to be presented to both boards in April.
Don MacIntyre, PFS interim chief executive, said “Given the current challenges between the PFS and CII, the board believed it important to instigate such a review and I can now confirm this is underway. This process along with ongoing dialogue with the CII are important next steps in the safeguarding the PFS’ long-term future.
“It is vital that the PFS has the strongest possible governance structures to ensure we, the executive, and the board, are making key decisions and undertaking actions always in members’ best interests on the basis of the best advice. I am firmly of the view that this will be achieved by a thorough, impartial review-process led by the expert, experienced and highly skilled professionals at Integrity Governance who can provide high-quality advice free from history or bias.
“I appreciate that PFS members have concerns about the future of their organisation, following the turbulence of recent months. I am confident that the findings and suggestions of this review will help allay those concerns and allow me to build a leadership structure that is fit for modern membership body.”
Tensions between the PFS and CII were heightened after the CII appointed three of its directors to the PFS board in late December 2022. The move was deemed aggressive and also led to the resignation of PFS president Caroline Stuart at the beginning of January 2023.
