Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Osborne ready to overhaul Bank of England governance

Sean Farrell
Wednesday 16 November 2011 01:00 GMT
Comments

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

The Chancellor has indicated that he is ready to overhaul governance of the Bank of England ahead of it gaining more powers over financial regulation.

Answering questions in Parliament, George Osborne said the Treasury was considering seriously recommendations made by the Treasury Select Committee on how to update the bank's "antiquated" processes.

The committee has called for the Bank's governing court to include more external members and to act more like a board of directors in holding the Governor, Sir Mervyn King, to account. It said the Bank should release more information to Parliament to open decisions to more public scrutiny.

Asked if the Bank's court was "fit for purpose", Mr Osborne said the Treasury Committee had "posed a very good question" about whether the court should be beefed up with a greater oversight role. He added that he was also considering the committee's request for more powers to scrutinise the Bank. Mr Osborne told a joint Parliamentary committee on the draft Financial Services Bill that he planned to publish his response to the Independent Commission on Banking's proposals for financial reform by mid-December.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in