The Government has appointed a new chair of the Financial Markets Authority a day before entering the cooling period before the general election.

Generally goverenments do not make significant public appointments three months before a general election.

James Miller has been appointed FMA chairman on August 6 and the general election is on November 7.

Miller takes over the troubled regulator after former chairman Craig Stobo resigned and Chief Executive Samantha Barrass was put on leave following "cultural concerns" within the organisation.

Finance Minister Nicola Willis says Miller, is “one of this country's most respected directors”.

“His expertise in capital markets, corporate governance and financial regulation, including his time chairing NZX and as an inaugural director of the FMA, makes him exactly the leader the FMA needs,” she added.

Miller is a former chairman of NZX Limited, currently chairs Channel Infrastructure and was recently appointed deputy chair of Fletcher Building. He is also a director of Vista Group International and Ryman Healthcare.

Alongside his appointment the government has put Trevor Janes on the regulator's board. He is a former chairman of NZX’s regulatory arm, NZ RegCo,.

He is also  a former chairman of Abano Healthcare and was breifly on the board of finance company Capital + Merchant before it collapsed owing $167 million to investors.

“Getting the right people into these roles is part of fixing the basics and building the future, so New Zealand's financial markets work for the people and businesses that rely on them,” Commerce Minister Cameron Brewer said in a joint statement with Willis.