Sir Steve Webb, former pensions minister and director of policy at Royal London, is in talks to become the next chief executive of The Pensions Regulator (TPR).
According to Sky News, Sir Steve is one of a handful of candidates who have been shortlisted to replace Lesley Titcomb as TPR's chief executive, when she steps down at the end of her four-year term in February.
Sir Steve declined to comment.
He served as a Liberal Democrat MP for 18 years and was a minister in the coalition government led by David Cameron. He joined Royal London in 2015.
A spokesperson at TPR said: "The process for finding a new chief executive is ongoing and we will make an announcement at the appropriate time."
TPR has been heavily criticised for its role in the Carillion collapse, with MPs accusing it of making "hollow threats" and failing “in all its objectives".
The work and pensions, and the business, energy and industrial strategy (BEIS) committees called for cultural change at the watchdog, saying they were "far from convinced that The Pensions Regulator's current leadership is equipped to effect that change."
But the regulator stressed Ms Titcomb’s decision to leave was entirely unrelated to those pressures.
maria.espadinha@ft.com
