Janice Holness has now been named as executive director of the Financial Services Commission (FSC), confirming reports of her pick for the job in December.

Her appointment takes effect on Monday, March 11. She takes over from deputy executive director Leon Anderson, who has been running the agency in the interim, since the resignation of former boss, Rohan Barnett in March 2012.

Efforts to reach Holness for comment were unsuccessful. Communications manager Nadene Newsome said she left the island early Thursday morning.

Holness, a financial services regulatory attorney in New York has over 16 years of experience in financial services regulation, including a previous eight years of service with the FSC, from 2003 to 2011.

She served the regulatory agency as director of investigation and enforcement, and was instrumental in the commission's enforcement thrust in combating unlawful financial operations.

FSC said in a release Wednesday that Holness led the agency's successful efforts on cross-border cooperation and collaboration on investigation and on enforcement actions involving financial crimes.

Holness was educated at St John's University, New York, where she earned her law degree, and Norman Manley Law School in Jamaica. She practised as an attorney in New York with McCarter and English LLP, where her work mainly centred on representing major insurance companies in matters involving policy interpretation, benefits entitlement and sales and marketing practices; and served as a law intern with the enforcement division of the US Securities and Exchange Commission, said the FSC.

Holness is a current member of the board of directors of Bank of Jamaica.

sabrina.gordon@gleanerjm.com