Bank of England minutes reveal risks of further pound gains March 19, 2014 Members of the UK's interest rate setting committee voted unanimously against any policy change in March. The Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) chose to keep rates at their historic lows of 0.5 per cent, with asset purchases also unchanged. Minutes of the MPC reveal that sterling could strengthen further as the UK's economy [...]
Shakeup at the Bank of England could bring a hawkish surprise March 18, 2014 Sweeping changes are on the way at the top of the Bank of England, with the IMF’s Nemat “Minouche” Shafik hired as deputy governor for markets and banking, and MPC member Ben Broadbent promoted the deputy governor for monetary policy. The changes this summer will also lead to Andy Haldane becoming chief economist, and markets [...]
Bank of England appoints Lord Grabiner QC to lead forex probe March 12, 2014 The UK's central bank has appointed Lord Grabiner QC, the man who oversaw News Corp's internal hacking investigation, to lead an investigation into "conduct issues in the foreign exchange market." Grabiner is a commercial lawyer, with over 40 years of experience working on commercial litigation cases in London. The investigation, which is supported by Travers [...]
Innovia Security bags Bank of England contract to make material for new polymer notes March 12, 2014 The Bank of England (BoE) has announced this morning that it’s agreed a contract with Innovia Security to supply the polymer material to make its new (polymer) bank notes. The plastic for the £5 and £10 notes will be made in Wigton, Cumbria, with Innovia creating a plant specially. It’ll be operational from 2016, with [...]
Here’s what the Bank of England has to say on Bitcoin, Litecoin, and Ripple March 12, 2014 In a new primer on the nature of money, the UK's central bank has waded into the world of sterling-alternatives. Seeing "a wave of innovation" in the recent past, the Bank says in "Money in the modern economy" that alternative currencies are not widely accepted as a medium of exchange. Or at least, not as [...]
Bank of England plans shake-up to tackle forex probe March 11, 2014 GOVERNOR Mark Carney vowed to restore the Bank of England’s credibility and repair financial markets yesterday, hiring a new deputy governor to investigate foreign exchange market manipulation claims. Carney promised to “ruthlessly, relentlessly follow through with the investigation” into claims a Bank of England staff member had encouraged or turned a blind eye to traders’ attempts [...]
Why the Bank of England must stop deleting its historical records March 11, 2014 THE DESTRUCTION of historical records by government bodies is a recurring motif of the unfree society. So the Bank of England’s hesitancy to publish transcripts from its meetings should be a serious cause for concern. Worse still, recordings of the Monetary Policy Committee’s (MPC) meetings are not even preserved. They are routinely deleted – the [...]
Why the Bank of England needs to stop deleting historical records March 11, 2014 A policy of deleting historical records at the Bank of England has come under fire, as individuals voice concerns about the implication for transparency. The tapes of policy setting meetings are routinely deleted – the transcripts destroyed once minutes are agreed upon. Today, Treasury Select Committee chairman Andrew Tyrie has asked for the Bank of [...]
Bank of England divided over economic slack March 11, 2014 Having made spare capacity a focus, Bank of England governor Mark Carney is now having to deal with disagreements over how people gauge the amount of slack in the UK's economy. While Carney said in February that spare capacity might be around one to 1.5 per cent in the labour market, he now believes that [...]
Bank of England’s deputy governor says low rates are here to stay March 10, 2014 Bank of England Deputy governor Charlie Bean spoke to the North East Chamber of Commerce today, suggesting that even once interest rates rise, the new normal for bank rate may be around two or three per cent, rather than the higher pre-crisis levels. Bean’s comments come quickly after monetary policy committee (MPC) member David Miles made [...]