Holly Dwyer, Grant Thornton
Holly joined the Grant Thornton financial services audit practice from the FCA’s specialist CASS supervision team in 2022. She has significant experience working with senior management to manage complex CASS risks at a variety of firms including general insurance intermediaries and designated investment businesses, and of practically applying knowledge of legislation affecting CASS firms and the wider Financial Services Industry. As a technical and quality assurance specialist, Holly is focussed on the delivery of the highest quality CASS audits. She also leads on providing both high level and technically detailed CASS training and upskilling to the Financial Services Audit department. Her FCA experience includes s.166 Skilled Person’s reports and other regulatory tools, portfolio analysis, firm-specific assessments of those close to failure, proactive engagement of CASS large firms and authorisation of new CASS firms. 

John Needham, Partner Financial Services, PKF
John focuses on insurance distribution and has been involved in helping clients with CASS matters in an audit and advisory capacity since the implementation of the rules in 2005. John was on the FCA advisory panel when the regulator consulted on updating the rules in 2012 and has been involved in a number of regulatory investigations, working for firms and on behalf of the FCA. He is a member of the current ICAEW CASS 5 sub-working party. John is a regular speaker on industry-related topics, both for PKF and on behalf of industry bodies such as the MGAA and Insurtech UK, and is a frequent commentator on current issues in the insurance press.

Nneka Crichlow, Partner, EY
Nneka is one of the primary CASS 5 specialists and technical reviewers at EY and through her role has built a detailed knowledge of industry practices in this area. She also has significant experience overseeing the CASS audits of medium to large firms and has an in-depth understanding of the challenges and key considerations which arise on CASS audits. She is a current member of the ICAEW CASS 5 sub-working party.

George Williams, Director in Regional Financial Services, Deloitte
George has 12 years of experience working in Financial Services and Client Money (CASS) external audits, with a broad experience across the industry including retail lending, insurance intermediaries and investment managers. George has been a leader in Deloitte’s CASS 5 audit quality review team for the last 6 years and is a member of the ICAEW’s CASS 5 sub-working party that discusses observations and insights identified across the insurance intermediary industry.

Polly Tsang, Financial Services Regulatory Manager Financial Services Faculty, ICAEW

Prior to joining the ICAEW, Polly specialised in structured finance and asset backed securitisation at PwC, helping firms raise debt market funding and buy/sell asset pools. She qualified as an ACA with PwC London within investment management and banking and capital markets. She is interested in exploring the risks and opportunities in regulating financial services in the post-Brexit landscape, particularly in evolving areas such as ESG, cryptoassets and AI.

Ruby Bhavra, Manager, FCA
Ruby leads the Policy and Strategy function within the Client Assets Department at the FCA. She has significant experience in client assets and has led several strategic initiatives over the last eight years to strengthen regulatory and legislative frameworks on CASS and resolution matters across a wide variety of sectors. Before joining the FCA, Ruby worked as a financial services lawyer.