The Personal Finance Society (PFS) is conducting an independent governance review which is due to report back by the end of April.
Conducted by Integrity Governance, the PFS said the review will be an objective, independent assessment and will cover the PFS CEO’s role, PFS board 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 and will set out recommendations for how PFS governance structure and operations can be further strengthened going forward.
The PFS said the review will provide the “first ever independent assessment of this nature and therefore objective suggestions for reform”.
It follows the heated long-running dispute between the PFS and CII.
This was further ignited by the CII’s controversial decision to takeover the PFS board in December, which the CII said was due to significant governance failings within the PFS, a claim strongly denied by the PFS, and which led to a war of words between the two organisations.
An extensive PFS member consultation was conducted in January – these findings have been reviewed by the PFS board and presented to the CII board.
The PFS board added it 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.
The PFS board will be presented with Integrity Governance’s findings and recommendations by the end of April. Following the completion of the review, the board will communicate with the membership on the next steps.
Commenting on the review, PFS interim CEO Don MacIntyre said: “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 a modern membership body.
“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.”