Sean Hughes, who had studied Commonwealth history at Canterbury University over score years ago, had once set to take the helm of New Zealand's new financial super-regulator. He has recently cited the list of names of the historical figures he admires most. Topping his list are Michael Joseph Savage, Norman Kirk and former Australian Labour Prime Minister Gough Whitlam, in that order. All three, Hughes said, were reformers and idealists who were committed to a safety net for citizens as well as a strong private sector for boosting growth.

Hughes got appointed previous month as the head of the new Financial Markets Authority (FMA), which is slated to take over the duties of the Securities Commission and roll up other works of regulation from the Registrar of Companies, the Government Actuary and the NZX.

Hughes, 44, will go back to New Zealand and start his new job in January, though the formal creation of the new agency is on 1st April.

After having completed studying law at Canterbury, then a course in Cambridge, spending 20 years away in banking, then the Australian Securities and Investments Commission, Hughes is now keen on returning to New Zealand and doing something for the public there.