Howard Davies

Biography

Sir Howard has served as Director of the London School of Economics and as Chairman of the Financial Services Authority. He previously served as Deputy Governor of the Bank of England, Director General of the Confederation of British Industry and Controller of the Audit Commission. He now serves as Chairman of RBS.

Along with a number of other directorships and non-executive positions in both the public and private sectors, Howard is a member of the advisory boards of the China Banking Regulatory Commission and of the China Securities Regulatory Commission. He also chaired the UK Airports Commission and their report in to UK airport capacity and expansion.

Howard’s career has also incorporated spells at consultancy McKinsey and Co, the Treasury, and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, and as a Special Advisor to the Chancellor of the Exchequer. He served on the International Advisory Board of Natwest bank, was founding Chairman of the Employers Forum on Age, and was a non-executive Director of Morgan Stanley. An economist by training he has returned to academia and teaches financial markets and central banking at the Paris Institute of Political Studies’ (also known as Sciences Po) School of International Affairs. Most recently he has led the high-profile study in to the UK airport capacity and is reviewing the controversial options for expansion.

As well as his board and advisory work, Howard writes extensively on financial markets, regulation and the economy. His books include Can Financial Markets be Controlled?, Banking on the Future: The Fall and Rise of Central Banking, and Global Financial Regulation: The Essential Guide.

In presentations Howard considers everything from global business to macroeconomics, emerging markets to regulation with serious insight as well as a surprisingly entertaining touch.