Mr Baker joins from MLC Wealth where he was the general manager, regulatory change and remediation. 

Philip Hardy, head of risk advisory, said Mr Baker’s diverse background and depth of expertise will significantly strengthen their expanded offering for clients.

“We are thrilled to appoint Chris Baker as Head of Managed Services, Risk Advisory in Sydney. Chris is highly regarded in the financial services sector as a remediation expert, and brings large scale regulatory change, regulatory response and managed services skills to the growing Ashurst Consulting division,” Mr Hardy said.

Mr Baker has a wealth of experience working with government, regulators (ASIC, APRA and AFCA) and industry bodies in the shaping of policy and regulation to improve client outcomes and reduce the cost and complexity of implementation. Ashurst said his work has involved resolving some of the country’s most complex remediation policy issues.

He led the large-scale remediation of customers and response to ongoing regulatory investigations resulting from conduct issues examined at the royal commission into misconduct in financial services for MLC. 

“I am delighted to join Ashurst’s Risk Advisory business as Head of Managed Services. This is an exciting period of growth in the firm’s consulting business and I look forward to adding further value to broaden the offering to complement the firm’s core legal services,” Mr Baker said on his move.

“Financial services organisations are facing more change and complexity than ever, particularly in relation to regulatory and compliance related matters. I think that Ashurst’s ability to bring the full suite of legal and consulting services together with a strong delivery capability creates a compelling one stop shop to help firms navigate this complexity with confidence.”

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The firm said his appointment demonstrates the rapid expansion of Ashurst Consulting, which was launched on March 31 2020.