UK Appoints Barclays Executive as Top Bank of England Regulator

Britain’s government on Friday appointed a former regulator and current Barclays BARC.L executive, Katharine Braddick, as the Bank of England’s next deputy governor for prudential regulation to try to boost sluggish economic growth.

Last year, finance minister Rachel Reeves criticized regulators for being “a boot on the neck of businesses,” raising concerns at the Bank of England, whose governor, Andrew Bailey, has said the lessons of the 2008 global financial crisis risk being forgotten.

Braddick worked at Britain’s Financial Services Authority and the Bank of England as a bank regulator before joining the finance ministry and then moving to Barclays in 2022, where she is group head of strategic policy.

Experienced, Pro-Business Leader, Says Reeves

“Katharine Braddick is an accomplished pro-business leader with the experience to keep our financial system safe while backing the investment and lending that drives growth,” Reeves said in a statement.

She added that Braddick “understands the City and regulation, and will help ensure the UK remains one of the best places in the world to do business.”

Braddick will take up the post on July 1 from Sam Woods, and will serve a five-year term.

Her appointment was welcomed by the City of London Corporation, the municipal body for London’s financial district, which typically champions the sector’s interests.

“At a time of significant regulatory reform and global competition, it’s crucial we have someone with her depth of knowledge and expertise in the role,” the Corporation’s policy chairman, Chris Hayward, said.

The BoE said that to manage any perceived conflict of interest, Braddick would immediately stop work for Barclays and that the bank would pay Braddick the deferred portion of her bonus straightaway.

Braddick would be barred from being “involved in any supervisory or enforcement decisions in relation to Barclays” for the first six months of her job, David Roberts, the chair of the BoE’s supervisory board, said in a letter to the chair of parliament’s Treasury Committee.

Due to Barclays’ central role in Britain’s financial system, it was not practical for Braddick to be recused for any longer, he added.

In 2017, the committee was critical of newly appointed deputy governor Charlotte Hogg for failing to be transparent about her brother’s work on Barclays’ strategy team, ultimately convincing her to step down.

(Reporting by David Milliken and William James; editing by Barbara Lewis)