Auxillias Founder profiles
Joanne “Jo” Davis
CEO & PARTNER
Jo has over 20 years’ experience at a senior level working for major UK law firms and in-house at RBS and VWFS. Jo specialises in the asset, motor finance, leasing and consumer finance sectors, provides financial services advice (non-contentious and contentious) across a wide range of finance products and helps building online finance platforms for the broker and the lending market.
She provides legal counsel and compliance and regulatory advice to her clients and has been ranked by Chambers and Partners for the last 17 years as one of the leading lawyers in the UK in consumer finance.
In the 2025 edition of Chambers UK, Jo maintained her Band 2 individual ranking in the Consumer Finance category and was described by clients as being: “very engaging” and “an extremely passionate lawyer with in-depth knowledge of the sector”. Jo is also know for being “a very experienced operator who understands the commercial realities of her clients.”
Jo sits on the board of the CCTA and is a board advisor to two fintechs.
Daksha Mistry
PARTNER / COO
Daksha has worked within the banking and financial services for over 20 years, working for a number of major law firms in the UK, and as an in-house solicitor at GE Capital. For seven years she was also involved in supporting businesses and leading major projects as an in-house consultant at many large banks.
Daksha’s legal, regulatory and compliance expertise comes from working on both contentious and non-contentious matters on technical Consumer Credit queries and FCA rules and regulations. Daksha has also assisted a number of new start-ups to launch their businesses within the financial services sector and more recently on customer digital platforms where she helps brokers and lending clients to build compliant online finance platforms.
Auxillias Team profiles
Paul Godsmark
HEAD OF ADVISORY
Paul has over a decade of experience working with regulated firms, both in private practice at Walker Morris LLP as well as in-house at CLS and Hitachi Capital. With broad experience of advising on legal, regulatory, compliance and operational risk matters, Paul specialises in consumer finance, consumer law, marketing and advertising, data privacy and managing significant regulatory change.
Dan Richards
HEAD OF REMEDIATION PROGRAMMES
Dan is a senior financial services professional with over 25 years’ experience leadingregulatory remediation, compliance and large-scale transformation programmes Hehas worked on major initiatives across PPI, financial crime, conduct risk andcomplaints. At Auxillias, Dan focuses on helping motor finance firms navigate redresslinked to discretionary commission arrangements, delivering practical, scalablesolutions that reduce risk and support long-term resilience.
Frank Brown
REDRESS AND REMEDIATION CONSULTANT
Frank is a governance, risk and regulatory expert with extensive experience of advising boards and senior management on how to achieve their strategic objectives while staying within risk appetite and abiding by the rules and principles of the regulators.
Frank has worked for ‘Big Four’ accountants and top UK law firms, advising a range of firms from startups to organisations at the heart of Britain’s financial market infrastructure. He has also acted as an s166 Skilled Person and is well versed in dealing with regulators.
When advising firms, Frank encourages clients to take a holistic view and recognise that risk crystallisation, regulatory breaches and failures to effectively execute strategy can be symptoms of root cause issues in the firm’s governance, culture, organisational structure and business model.
Andy Smith
REGULATORY CONSULTANT
Andy is a qualified lawyer with over 20 years’ experience in senior in-house roles,including at Likewize, Auden and The Money Shop. He specialises in regulatoryinvestigations, s166 reviews and authorisations, combining legal, compliance and commercial insight. With an executive MBA, Andy brings a well-rounded, pragmaticapproach to helping firms navigate complex regulatory challenges across the financialservices sector.
Sarah Froggatt
CHANGE TRANSFORMATION CONSULTANT
Sarah is a change transformation leader with over 35 years’ financial servicesexpertise across corporate and retail banking, prime and sub-prime lending, motorand insurance. She is a proven operational specialist (including remediation) andprogramme manager and ensures the smooth running of any delivery.
Shannon Faulkner
CONSULTANT
Shannon Faulkner is an operations strategist with 20+ years’ experience drivingtransformation across financial services and automotive. A certified business coach andAI project manager, she helps businesses optimise operations, lead with impact andachieve sustainable growth. Originally from Canada and now UK-based, Shannon ispassionate about empowering women in leadership and mentoring talent fromunderrepresented backgrounds - bringing energy, empathy and real-world insight toeverything she does.
Suzette Shipton
CONSULTANT
Suzette is a seasoned legal and compliance professional with over 15 years of experience spanning both private practice and in-house roles.
She began her legal career at the leading City firm Ashurst, followed by time at Gowling WLG, before moving in-house to focus on the financial services sector. Since then, Suzette has held senior legal, compliance, and leadership roles at Barclays Bank Plc, RCI Financial Services Ltd, Oodle Financial Services Ltd and Specialist Motor Finance Ltd where she has built a strong track record of advising on regulatory matters and leading high-performing teams.
Carrie Stephenson
LEGAL AND GOVERNANCE DIRECTOR
Carrie supports clients with all corporate governance and risk related compliance matters as well as support you with general commercial and wider regulatory issues. She has been involved in leading the transformation of legal and compliance functions to becoming a true business partner to boards with full integration across businesses.
Robert Bell
TRAINING CONSULTANT
Robert is a highly regarded financial compliance expert who has a proven track record of assisting firms through FCA & OFT authorisation. He has successfully embedded risk models, operational policies and auditing procedures for many firms within the financial services sector.
Robert also offers support to clients on a range of financial services compliance and UK GDPR matters. As part of this role, he is a tutor for the Credit Services Association's level 6 apprenticeship in compliance and risk and has written guidance on behalf of the Money Advice Trust / UK Finance on vulnerability and GDPR. Robert is a law graduate with over 15 years of experience in financial services and has held both head of and director of compliance roles in the industry.
Joanna Taylor
TRAINING CONSULTANT
With an extensive background in the automotive finance and banking sectors, Joanna has had a varied career within the learning and development space. During her time at several major UK finance companies, she has both created and held courses for new and existing laws, legislation, finance products and business processes.
Joanna will be delivering sessions as part of the Auxillias Academy and these will kick off with a selection of Consumer Duty workshops for staff of all levels in the industry. The Academy, which has been in popular demand since the implementation of Consumer Duty, was launched in 2022 to give staff at all levels of an organisation the knowledge they need to operate successfully and compliantly
Read more about our training service offering.