The Bank of England’s latest top appointment is not a good look

The amount of white men in Threadneedle Street’s highest echelons who used to work for Goldman Sachs is at odds with the stated aim of being more diverse and inclusive, writes Chris Blackhurst

Andrew Bailey, the Bank’s governor, said in July: ‘We have ... agreed new and stretching targets to increase representation – including at our most senior levels’ (Getty)

So Huw Pill, the new chief economist of the Bank of England and ex-Goldman Sachs, reports to Ben Broadbent, deputy governor for monetary policy and ex-Goldman Sachs. Broadbent was appointed by Mark Carney, the previous governor and ex-Goldman Sachs.

Andrew Bailey, the current governor, explains the Bank’s moves to Rishi Sunak – the chancellor and ex-Goldman Sachs. Should Bailey and his colleagues have an issue with the BBC’s coverage of the Bank, they can complain to Richard Sharp, formerly of the Bank’s financial policy committee and now the corporation’s chair and ex-Goldman Sachs. Sunak used to work for Sharp when they were at Goldman Sachs.

There are eight other banks in the world that enjoy similar status to Goldman in that they’re all classed as “bulge bracket” investment banks, providing financing and advisory services, as well as trading and research across the broad spectrum of financial products. Yet JPMorgan, Deutsche, Citigroup, Morgan Stanley and the rest might as well not exist where the Bank of England is concerned.