Matt Ray
Biography
Matt joined the ELT in June 2024 on a year’s loan from the Department for Business and Trade (DBT) to help us map out our evolving role in the wake of recent economic crime legislation, communicate it effectively, and get new capabilities in place.
Matt has been a senior civil servant at DBT since 2016 with policy responsibility for core elements of UK company law, with a particular focus in recent years on reform of Companies House and related measures to tackle the misuse of corporate entities in economic crime. He was Senior Responsible Owner in the Department for the two Economic Crime Acts of 2022 and 2023, which amongst other things created new responsibilities, powers and funding streams for the Insolvency Service’s enforcement work. Matt had also worked closely with us to deliver the Corporate Insolvency and Governance Act 2020, which delivered both temporary and permanent changes to the UK’s insolvency framework in the wake of the covid pandemic. From 2017 to 2023 he was also Chair of the UK Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative – which sets standards for governance and transparency in oil, gas and mining sectors worldwide.
Prior to 2016 Matt had previously spent seven years as a senior advisor at HM Treasury, majoring on tax, welfare and energy policy. Matt began his career at the National Audit Office, is a chartered accountant (FCA) and holds a degree from Oxford University.