The new head of The Australian Securities and Investments Commission is a lawyer at Harvard and prominent former Goldman Sachs banker in Asia.
Taking on the high level position is James Shipton, who has been the executive director at Harvard Law School's Program on International Financial Systems for the past year.
The Minister for Revenue and Financial Services Kelly O'Dwyer said that Shipton be appointed as the full-time chair to the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) for a five-year period from 1 February 2018.
Political Interference
Shipton was previously a regulator at Hong Kong's Securities and Futures Commission and held various roles in investment banking in Asia for Goldman Sachs as a managing director in Goldman's Asian Executive Office and as head of Government & Regulatory Affairs for Asia Pacific, based in Hong Kong.
There had been widespread uncertainty about who would replace incumbent chair Greg Medcraft, who leaves the job next month as ASIC prepares for a large scale legal battle with Australia's largest banks over bank bill swap rates.
The government will recommend his appointment to the Governor-General following the withdrawal of John O'Sullivan, currently chairman of Credit Suisse's Australian investment bank, who had been criticised by shadow treasurer Chris Bowen because of his ties to the Liberal Party and Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull.
