Britain is expected to choose a new central bank chief this year to succeed Canadian Mark Carney, who will step down in June 2019, three months after the country’s scheduled exit from the European Union. Following is a summary of possible contenders to run the Bank of England (BoE), which oversees the world’s sixth-biggest economy and Britain’s huge finance industry. No one has yet thrown their hat into the ring.
ANDREW BAILEY: The outsider insider
Widely tipped by analysts as Carney’s most likely successor, Bailey reached the role of deputy governor of the BoE with a focus on banks before becoming chief executive of the Financial Conduct Authority, a financial markets regulator.
During his time at the BoE, Bailey helped to steer Britain’s banks through the global financial crisis, enhancing his reputation as a safe pair of hands.
However, heading the FCA — which roots out misconduct in Britain’s large financial services sector — is fraught with risks.
The head of the British parliament’s influential Treasury Committee has criticised Bailey for withholding parts of a report into alleged misconduct by state-owned RBS during the financial crisis. Bailey has cited privacy restrictions.
BEN BROADBENT AND DAVE RAMSDEN: The deputies
Broadbent and Ramsden are deputy governors for monetary policy and for markets and banking respectively, burnishing their credentials as potential successors to Carney.
Broadbent, a former Goldman Sachs economist who once trained as a classical pianist, is respected for his economic analysis but has less experience on banking oversight, which has become an important part of the BoE governor’s role.
Ramsden only joined the central bank in September although he is no stranger to the Monetary Policy Committee having attended 92 of its meetings in his previous role as the Treasury’s chief economic adviser. The two other BoE deputy governors, Jon Cunliffe and Sam Woods, are less likely contenders.
ANDY HALDANE: The free thinker
The BoE’s chief economist, Haldane has developed a reputation for floating unconventional ideas, including the abolition of cash as a way to give central banks more muscle over the economies they run. In 2012, he praised the anti-capitalist Occupy movement for suggesting new ways to fix the shortcomings of global finance.
Haldane has experience of both sides of the bank, having served previously as executive director for financial stability, overseeing the risks to the economy from the banking system. But he might be seen as too much of a maverick to take the job. — Reuters
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