Mark Carney yesterday unveiled a radical shake-up of the Bank of England, introducing sweeping changes to senior management and its operations – including the appointment of only the second woman to fill a senior role at the Bank of England in more than 300 years.
The revamp for the Bank of England – one of the world’s more conservative central banks, known as the Old Lady of Threadneedle Street – is part of Mr Carney’s mission to create what officials describe as “one bank” working together, ridding the institution of its many “silos”.
Mr Carney, appointed governor last July, was brought in from Canada to modernise the bank and make it fit to run its new supervision and financial stability duties.
Mr Carney said his changes were designed to revolutionise “how we use our powers”.
The new management structure, he said, “breaks down barriers between areas within the bank through a reorganisation that puts greater emphasis on joint working”.
The radical changes will come as a shock to many officials steeped in the history of the organisation.
Two new deputy governors have been appointed, with many other senior officials being stripped of their roles and given less familiar responsibilities. The Bank of England will also get a new chairman of court, its equivalent of a management board.
“By acting as one bank we can increase our international impact and ensure the UK’s financial sector can be both a global good and a national asset,” Mr Carney said.
The governor said the institution, known for its secrecy, would review its policy of destroying tapes of policy meetings and would beef up an internal review process modelled on the IMF’s Independent Evaluation Office.
This will provide independent scrutiny of the BoE’s functions and operations.
Nemat Shafik, Britain's most senior official at the IMF, will become deputy governor for banking and markets from August. She will be the most senior woman at the BoE since Rachel Lomax, deputy governor between 2003 and 2008.
Ben Broadbent will step up from being an external member of the Monetary Policy Committee to become deputy governor for monetary policy from July. He will replace Charlie Bean, who is retiring.
– (Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2014 )
