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Ashley Kovas has been involved in financial services regulation since the implementation of the Financial Services Act 1986, at which time he was at the Department of Trade and Industry. Subsequently he worked for several fund management companies before joining the FSA in 2000 where he worked on both wholesale and retail policy issues. His last role at the FSA was as Manager of the Collective Investment Schemes Policy Team where he was responsible for almost all aspects of the COLL Sourcebook. He also took an active role as a member of the CESR (now ESMA) Investment Management Expert Group, as well as representing the FSA at IOSCO Standing Committee 5 (Investment Management).

After eight years at the FSA, Ashley became Head of Group Compliance (Funds) in the Prudential PLC Group Compliance Department. After a period as Director of Strategy for the Solicitors Regulation Authority, Ashley was Head of Group Compliance Policy at the Royal Bank of Scotland where he introduced a suite of Conduct Risk Policies effective across the RBS Group.

Ashley is now a Senior Regulatory Intelligence Expert at Thomson Reuters where he analyses and writes on topical regulatory matters.  He also works as an independent regulatory consultant.

Ashley holds Bachelors and Masters degrees in Law from the University of London.  He is a Chartered Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Securities and Investment (CISI) and a Fellow of the Chartered Management Institute.  He is the author of Understanding the Financial Conduct Authority: a guide for senior managers.