Former Slaughter and May partner Charles Randell has been appointed as the new chair of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).

Randell will take up the role on 1 April 2018 for a five-year term. He will succeed outgoing chair and former KPMG UK chair John Griffith-Jones.

FCA chief executive Andrew Bailey said: "I am very pleased to welcome Charles to the FCA. His experience of regulation, both during the financial crisis and more recently as a member of the Prudential Regulation Committee, means that he has a strong understanding of the challenges that the FCA faces and I look forward to tackling these with him in his new role."

In March this year, Randell joined the Prudential Regulation Committee when it replaced the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) board. He had originally been appointed in 2013 as one of three independent directors of the PRA, shortly before his retirement from Slaughters later that year.

He is also currently a non-executive board member of the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy.

Previously, he spent more than 30 years at Slaughters. He first joined the firm in 1980 and made partner in 1989. He specialised in corporate finance law, and worked on financial stability and bank restructuring assignments.

During his time at the magic circle firm he advised the Treasury on a range of matters arising from the credit crunch, including the collapse of Northern Rock and Bradford & Bingley, as well as the Icelandic banks crisis.

He also took a key advisory role on the recapitalisation of the UK banking sector, including the investment of up to £45bn in shares of RBS and £23bn in shares of Lloyds Banking Group.