Volume I of The Bank of England Bedside Book – A Thread of Gold, published in 2008, encapsulated something of the history and spirit of the Bank of England to the present day. Its conclusions pleaded for a halt to the persistent paring down of the Bank staff and for a rethinking of the regulatory hiving-off decisions of 1997. On both of these points, a corner has since been turned.
This eagerly-awaited second volume, The Future of the Bank of England – A Silver Lining? draws conclusions from the tumultuous events and consequences of the 2007-09 global financial crisis. It has not been easy for the Bank, deprived since 1997 of full responsibility for the supervision of the UK banks. These powers will now be restored to the Bank in 2012. Yet such power could be a political and economic banana-skin. Indeed, can the Old Lady of Threadneedle Street survive another onslaught? There are many in Europe who would be quite happy to see Sterling and the Bank swallowed up by the Euro and the European Central Bank. Or might some of the lead banks abandon the UK for points East such as Shanghai, Hong Kong or Singapore? These uncertainties feed on each other. In such matters of confidence and trust, the authors argue, the battle-hardened Bank of England now has a major opportunity to help strengthen the global financial system.
The Bank’s immediate priorities are to rebuild a friendly relationship with the rest of the UK financial sector, develop a more robust mechanism for restraining inflation and provide a sound basis for a sustained economic rebound.
The Future of the Bank of England – A Silver Lining? is a timely and absorbing scrutiny of one of the UK’s greatest institutions, its past, present and future. As well as contributions from major figures from the world of banking, the book includes a section of historical satirical cartoons, a lighthearted look at the contributions to the Bank’s in-house publication, The Old Lady of Threadneedle Street, and useful annexes on Bank personnel.
Contributors include three former Chancellors of the Exchequer, the Official Historian of the Bank, the current Chairman of a major City bank, the CEO of the British Bankers Association and 16 former Directors and senior staff of the Bank of England.
Paul Tempest worked for the Bank of England from 1959 to 1983, spending a third of that time on secondment in Switzerland, Lebanon, Qatar and Dubai and with British Gas and Shell International. Since then he has been Director-General of the World Petroleum Council (1991–99), CEO of the Windsor Energy Group (2000–09) and Chairman of the Bank’s alumni organisation, the Threadneedle Club since 1985.
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