Sean Hughes is a partner at Blackhall & Pearl advising boards and senior executives on governance, regulatory strategy and crisis response. He draws on his senior executive leadership experience across financial services and regulation — including as inaugural Chief Executive of New Zealand’s Financial Markets Authority, Commissioner at the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), Group General Counsel at Tabcorp, Chief Risk and Legal Officer at UniSuper and General Counsel at Vanguard Australia.

Combining legal, risk and executive experience with practical boardroom insight from prior roles at National Australia Bank, ANZ and in private practice, he helps clients strengthen oversight, manage regulatory engagement and restore stakeholder trust through pragmatic governance solutions that protect brand and shareholder value.