Osborne must get on with hunt for outsider to head FCA

Tracey McDermott is out of the running to succeed Martin Wheatley but the Chancellor is struggling to find a good external candidate who wants an ‘awful job’

Thursday 7 January 2016 at 06:57

Greg Medcraft of the Australian Securities and Investments Commission is believed to have interviewed for the top job at the FCA
Greg Medcraft of the Australian Securities and Investments Commission is believed to have interviewed for the top job at the FCA Photo: Getty Images

The New Year row after the Financial Conduct Authority dropped its review of bank culture has triggered two debates in the City.

First, was this another example of Tracey McDermott, the FCA's acting chief executive, singing from the Treasury's new bank-friendly hymn sheet in the hope of getting the job for keeps? And second, would she succeed?