John Harris will succeed David Carse, who is to retire at the end of October.
Mr Harris will complete a six-month notice period and could effectively be doing both jobs for a short period.
Although Mr Harris has virtually no formal experience as a regulator, Colin Powell, the chairman of the Jersey Financial Services Commission, said that they were delighted to recruit him.
‘He has effectively been the link between the commission and the States on matters of policy and aspects of legislation.
He has the type of policy, strategic and general experience we were looking for,’ said Mr Powell.
He added that there had been about 50 applicants, and executive search recruiters had been used in the process.
