Vickers joins Bank of England as director

Vickers joins Bank of

England as director

John Vickers, Professor of Political Economy at Oxford University, has been appointed an executive director and chief economist of the Bank of England. Professor Vickers, an expert on privatisation and regulation, will replace Mervyn King, who becomes a deputy governor of the Bank when the Bank of England Bill passes into law next spring. The Bank has also appointed Richard Brealey, Professor of Finance at the London Business School, as an adviser to the Governor on financial stability. Meanwhile, Sir Alan Budd, former Treasury chief economic adviser, has moved to the Bank's Monetary Policy Committee. Gus O'Donnell, a former aide to John Major, has stepped into Sir Alan's shoes, although in a somewhat changed role, at the Treasury.