Michael Blair QC Call (Middle Temple) 1965; QC (Honoris Causa) 1996; MA, LLM (Cantab); MA (Yale) E-mail: mblair@3vb.com

Michael Blair is a specialist on financial services and financial services regulation. He joined Chambers in 2000 after serving as General Counsel to the Board of the Financial Services Authority from 1998-2000, and as head of the legal function in its predecessor body, the Securities and Investments Board from 1987-97. Before that he had served from 1982 to 1987 as an Under Secretary in the home civil service, latterly taking responsibility for the criminal and civil legal aid schemes in England and Wales as well as for the higher courts and matters affecting the legal profession.

He is listed in Chambers & Partners as a leader in the field of Financial Services, being "highly valued by clients for his insights into the workings of the FSA. His broad-based financial services practice means that he is in demand by those who view him as a high-powered player in the field."(2006) His "background as former General Counsel to the FSA unsurprisingly equips him with "vast knowledge of the FSA's procedures and policies". Primarily occupied in an advisory capacity on transactions and business transfers, he "sees details others miss"" (2007)

Practice

Professional Offices and Duties

Current

• Master Treasurer in 2008
• Member, Council of the Inns of Court 2006-
• COMBAR Member of the Financial Services and Markets Tribunal Users' Committee 2004-
• Member, Competition Appeal Tribunal 2000-
• Bencher, Middle Temple 1995-
  

• Master Deputy Treasurer, Middle Temple, for 2007
  
• Treasurer, General Council of the Bar 1995-1998
• Chairman, Professional Standards Committee of the General Council of the Bar 1994
• Elected Member, General Council of the Bar 1988-1998
• Member, General Management Committee of the General Council of the Bar 1989, 1991-1998
• Member, Commercial Court Committee 1993-2000
• Chairman, Bar Conference 1993
• Member, Council of Legal Education 1992-1997
• Chairman, Bar Association for Commerce, Finance and Industry 1990-1991

Other Appointments

Current

• Chairman, Review Body on Doctors' and Dentists' Remuneration 2001- 2007
• President ,Guernsey Financial Services Tribunal 2002-
• Board Member, Dubai Financial Services Authority 2003-
• Deputy Chairman, virt-x (the Swiss-owned equities exchange in London) 2007-8 (to become Chairman on 1 July 2008)
  

• Chairman, Personal Investment Authority 2000-2002
• Chairman, Investment Management Regulatory Organisation 2000-2002
• Chairman, Securities and Futures Authority 2001-2002
• Director of the Financial Services Compensation Scheme 2000-2005

Government Service

• Lord Chancellor's Department (now Ministry of Justice)1966-1987
• Under Secretary there 1982-1987
• Circuit Administrator, Midland and Oxford Circuit 1982-1986
• Head of Courts and Legal Services Group 1986-1987.
  
  

Publications and Articles

• The Sale of Goods Act 1979 (Butterworths 1980)
  
• Contributor to The Law Commission and Law Reform (Sweet and Maxwell 1988)
  
• Financial Services: The New Core Rules (Blackstone 1991)
  
• Consultant Editor, Butterworths European Law Service (Banking and Financial Services title, 1993)
  
• Contributor to Financial Markets Regulation (Macmillan 1997)
  
• Editor, Blackstone's Guide to the Bank of England Act 1998 (1998)
  
• Editor, Blackstone's Guide to the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (2001)
  
• Author of "virt-x: a real European Stock Exchange", Swiss Review of Business Law, January 2001, with Peter Nobel and Thomas Schönholzer
  
• General Editor of Butterworths Financial Regulation Service 2001- 2007
  
• Consultant Editor, Financial Services title of Halsbury's Laws of England (4th Edition; revised)
  
• Joint Editor of "Financial Services Law" (Oxford University Press) 2006
  
• Joint Editor "Financial Markets and Exchanges Law" (OUP) 2007
• Contributor "The Judicial House of Lords" (OUP) 2008 (forthcoming)

Languages

French (working knowledge).