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She will be succeeded as Deputy Chairman and Chairman of the FSA's Committee of non-executive directors by Sir James Crosby. Dame Deirdre will have been a non-executive director for ten years and deputy chairman for over three years, by the time she steps down.

The FSA board is appointed by the Treasury. In addition to the chairman and chief executive, there are currently three managing director posts - one currently vacant - and nine non-executive members of the board.

The statutory role of the non-executive directors under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 is to check that the FSA operates efficiently and economically; oversee FSA’s mechanisms of financial control and to set the pay of the executive members of the board.

A committee of the board, consisting solely of the non-executive members, is set up and maintained for the purposes of discharging these functions. The chairman of this committee is appointed by the Treasury from among its members.

Hutton joined the FSA board in December 1997 and was appointed deputy chairman on 1 April 2004. She is chair of the Food Standards Agency and member of the European Food Safety Authority Management Board. Formerly she was chair of the National Consumer Council, the Scottish Consumer Council and the Personal Investment Authority Ombudsman Bureau.

Crosby is a non-executive director of Compass Group plc and ITV plc. Formerly Chief Executive of HBOS plc, he is also a Fellow of the Faculty of Actuaries. He joined the FSA Board in January 2004.

The Treasury said that a new non-executive director will be appointed to replace Deirdre Hutton at a later date.

Related links

• Financial Services Authority