The FSA has appointed Tom Kelly as its new communications director.

Tom Kelly joins from BAA, where he has been director of communications since 2007. A former BBC journalist, his previous civil service roles also include communications director at the Northern Ireland Office and Prime Minister’s Official Spokesman. This role is not the same as ‘spin doctor’, as erroneously suggested elsewhere.

The official spokesman addresses the media each morning to deliver statements on current events by the Prime Minister.

He will take up his new role on 4 May and report to the FSA’s chief executive, Hector Sants.

Sants said: “I am pleased to welcome Tom Kelly to the FSA’s senior management team. His breadth of communications experience will bring considerable strength to the organisation as we take forward the priorities we have laid out in our recent business plan.”””