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Bloomberg
One of Europe’s most senior banking regulators is switching sides to represent the region’s biggest lenders on policy issues, drawing criticism from lawmakers and advocacy groups.
Adam Farkas, currently the executive director of the European Banking Authority (EBA), will become the head of the Association for Financial Markets in Europe, the industry group said in a statement. The EBA announced separately that Farkas is stepping down and will refrain from policy and supervisory work until he leaves.
“We carried out an extensive search of the pan-European market and Adam was clearly the outstandingly qualified candidate,†AFME Chairman Michael Cole-Fontayn said.
Farkas, 51, will start his new role in February 2020. Simon Lewis, AFME’s current chief executive officer, earned $2.1 million for 2018, according to the group, which did not disclose his replacement’s pay.
In his new role, Farkas will be barred from directly lobbying his former employer for 24 months after leaving his post, the EBA said. He also can’t advise the association’s members on topics directly related to his prior work for 18 months after leaving the regulator.
Finance Watch, an advocacy group, has asked the EBA to block Farkas’s move, pointing to EU rules requiring officials to “behave with integrity and discretion†after leaving service.