UK – The 14 members of the new Board for Actuarial standards have been named by the Financial Reporting Council.

It includes names such as Pension Protection Fund chairman Lawrence Churchill, academics such as Steven Habermann and former Faculty of Actuaries president Tom Ross.

The FRC began its new regime of overseeing the Actuarial Profession at the start of this month following the Morris Review. The new board’s first meeting will be on April 20/21.

“When I took this job last December, one of my top priorities was to get together a strong and balanced board,” said BAS chairman Paul Seymour.

“We have very strong representation of all major stakeholders, with a wide intellectual input. I look forward to our first meeting, where we will develop a broad work programme, and consider the detail of our terms of reference.”

Chairman: Paul Seymour, former CEO, Laurentian Financial Group.

Director: Nigel Bankhead, ex Aon, recently involved with Grant Thornton in developing a system for monitoring scheme funding for the Pensions Regulator.

Members:

Mike Arnold, head of the life practice at Milliman in London.

David Blackwood, group treasurer of ICI.

Lawrence Churchill, chairman of the Pension Protection Fund.

Harold Clarke, recently retired as an actuarial partner at Deloitte & Touche.

Christopher Daws, financial and deputy secretary of the Church Commissioners.

Steven Haberman, Professor of Actuarial Science and Deputy Dean at Cass Business School, City University.

Dianne Hayter, member of National Consumer Council board and former Vice Chair of the Financial Services Consumer Panel.

Julian Lowe, general insurance actuarial director at Aviva.

Jerome Nollet, risk advice consultant.

Tom Ross, senior independent director of Royal London Mutual Insurance Society and chairman of trustees at the Smiths Industries Pension Scheme and of the Alstom UK Pension Scheme.

Sir Derek Wanless, former CEO of NatWest.

Martin Weale, director of the National Institute of Economic and Social Research.

Observers: Peter Askins (DWP), Paul Sharma (FSA), The Pensions Regulator.

Meanwhile, Watson Wyatt has found that pension deficits at FTSE has fallen to £44bn (euro) from £64bn due to rising bond yields and equity prices.

Elsewhere, actuarial consultant Lane Clark & Peacock has named three new partners: Adam Poulson, Clive Wellsteed and Richard Pinder.