BOE draws fire from bankers as Hogg’s appointment scrutinised

The Bank of England’s newly appointed deputy governor remains under pressure this week as she awaits a lawmaker report on her conduct.

Parliament’s Treasury Committee is reviewing Charlotte Hogg’s position after she admitted she didn’t disclose that her brother works at Barclays, which the BOE regulates.

The Sunday Times newspaper reported that some commercial bankers have said that if Hogg remains in her post, they will use that as an argument that they should also be treated more leniently.

The BOE declined to comment on the story. A spokesman for the Treasury Committee didn’t immediately return a phone call or email outside of office hours.

John Mann, a lawmaker who sits on the Treasury Committee, tweeted on Sunday that “ Pressure on Charlotte Hogg to resign as Bank of England no 2 is increasing not diminishing.”

The committee can’t block the appointment, but it can recommend against it. While not chiefly in charge of regulating banks, Hogg sits on a committee with responsibilities for supervision.

The controversy emerged late last month when Hogg, who took over as the deputy in charge of markets and banking this month, revealed that she didn’t disclose the Barclays link when she was hired as chief operating officer in 2013.

She also didn’t mention it in her application for deputy governor, and it only came to light after her appointment, in a questionnaire she completed for the Treasury Committee.

The issue dominated her appointment hearing before lawmakers, while the chairman and deputy chairman of the BOE’s governing body were also grilled on the matter at length at a separate hearing last week.

The BOE’s next interest-rate decision is on Thursday and will be the first to include Hogg as a voter on monetary policy

source : gulfnews