Andrew Bailey confirmed as next governor of Bank of England
Financial Conduct Authority chief Andrew Bailey has been confirmed as the 121st governor of the Bank of England.
Bailey will replace current incumbent Mark Carney on 16 March 2020. Carney has agreed to extend his current term to 15 March 2020 from 31 January 2020, to ensure a “smooth transition”, the Bank said.
Announcing the appointment, Chancellor Sajid Javid: “Andrew was the stand-out candidate in a competitive field. He is the right person to lead the Bank as we forge a new future outside the EU and level-up opportunity across the country.”
Bailey called the appointment a “tremendous honour”, adding: “As governor, I will continue the work that Mark Carney has done to ensure that it has the public interest at the heart of everything it does.
“It is important to me that the Bank continues to work for the public by maintaining monetary and financial stability, and ensuring that financial institutions are safe and sound.”
Bailey has worked at the Bank previously, joining at the start of his career in 1985 and working his way up to become deputy governor of prudential regulation before leaving in 2016 to head up the City watchdog. Seen as a safe pair of hands, he has long been one of the leading candidates to replace Carney.
However, there had been growing speculation that the FCA’s handling of several high-profile scandals, such as the collapse of Neil Woodford’s investment firm, could stand against him.
Simon French, chief economist at Panmure Gordon, told the BBC: “It’s not an entirely unblemished record as regards his most recent role. There have been a number of crises, which the perception is that he has struggled to get control off.”
Samuel Tombs, chief UK economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics, said: “Bailey is widely seen as a safe pair of hands. On the key issues of Brexit and monetary policy, however, his views are not publicly known. At the very least he must be neutral about Brexit to have got the job; [director of the London School of Economics] Minouche Shafik reportedly was ruled for former negative comments.
“Bailey also has not served on the Monetary Policy Committee, so we can't conclude whether he is a hawk or a dove.
“The new governor’s pre-appointment hearing with the Treasury Committee, likely to be held in late January or February, will provide the first true indication of his monetary policy views.”
David Cheetham, chief market analyst at XTB, said: “The role itself will no doubt be challenging with the ongoing political uncertainty, and Bailey will be keen to be seen as remaining as neutral as possible on the issue of Brexit after seeing at close hand the difficulties Carney faced amid accusations of political bias.”
The appointment of a new governor was delayed first by the change of leadership within the Conservative party and then the general election. Carney has delayed his departure twice amid political turmoil over Brexit.
Bailey’s main task is to set borrowing costs as chair of the MPC. The committee voted to keep rates unchanged at 0.75% on Thursday, but two members voted for a rate cut on the basis of weak economic data.
Carney, who Javid said had bought “intellect, rigour and leadership" to the role, called Bailey “an extraordinary public servant”.
He added: “Andrew brings unparalleled experience, built over three decades of dedicated service across off policy areas of the Bank. [He] is widely and deeply respected for his leadership managing the financial crisis, developing the new regulatory frameworks, and supporting financial innovation to better serve UK households and businesses.”
Bailey has been appointed aforn eight-year term.