Bank of England announcements: the departure of the Bank’s Executive Director for Financial Stability Strategy and Risk Spencer Dale; new appointments to the Prudential Regulation Authority Board

LONDON, 7-8-2014 — /EuropaWire/ — The Bank of England is today announcing the departure of Spencer Dale, the Bank’s Executive Director for Financial Stability Strategy and Risk.  The Bank is also announcing new appointments to the Board of the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA).

Spencer has decided to pursue a new path in his career, as Chief Economist of BP plc.  He will start his new position on 27 October 2014, after a post-employment cooling off period.  A recruitment process will begin shortly to find a successor for Spencer. This position will be advertised externally as well as within the Bank; and as required by the Bank of England Act, the Chancellor will be consulted with respect to the candidate to replace Spencer on the FPC.

Governor Mark Carney said:  “I have been privileged to have worked closely with Spencer Dale. He is an immensely talented and committed public servant, who has made significant contributions to monetary and financial stability over the course of his career at the Bank.  As the Bank’s Chief Economist, Spencer has played a key role in ensuring that the Monetary Policy Committee operates as an effective policymaking body, and more recently, has brought that same rigour and dedication to the Financial Policy Committee.  Most importantly, he has made this institution stronger – as a loyal and respected colleague, effective and supportive manager, and first rate policymaker.  On behalf of the Bank, I thank Spencer for his distinguished service, and wish him the very best in his new role.”

Spencer said:  “It has been a huge privilege to serve the Bank of England over the past 25 years.  It has also been an honour and a pleasure to work with so many talented people committed to serving the public good.  This is a tremendous institution that has changed remarkably since I joined, and whose additional responsibilities mean it has a central role in ensuring economic and financial stability for the UK.  To truly make the most of these new powers, I fully support the Bank’s objective to act as a single, cohesive policy institution.  I will miss the Bank greatly and I wish I could have stayed longer to contribute more.  But the opportunity to work in a different environment with one of the UK’s pre-eminent companies was simply too good an opportunity to refuse.”

Also today, the Court of Directors of the Bank, with the approval of the Chancellor of the Exchequer, has appointed the following independent members to the Board of the PRA:

• Sandra Boss, previously a Director in the London Office of McKinsey & Company, specialising in Investment Banking and Risk; she will join with effect from 1 September.
• Mark Yallop, currently UK CEO of UBS, formerly Group COO of ICAP and group COO of Deutsche Bank; he will join with effect from 1 December.

These appointments follow from a rigorous recruitment process initiated in March of 2014.  Via the Bank’s external recruitment consultants, requests for applications were publicly advertised. All candidates followed a fair and open application process that included panel interviews led by Sir David Lees.  Recommended applicants were subsequently interviewed by the Governor, who then sought the approval of HM Treasury on the final selection of appointees.

In addition to these appointments, the Court of Directors has agreed to appoint Minouche Shafik and Paul Fisher to the Board of the PRA.  Minouche Shafik joined the Bank on 1 August as Deputy Governor for Markets & Banking.  Paul Fisher became Executive Director, Supervisory Risk Specialists & Regulatory Operations and Deputy CEO of the PRA on 1 June 2014.  Minouche will join the Board with effect from 1 September, and Paul will join the Board with effect from 1 December.

Mark Carney, Chair of the PRA Board, said: “I am delighted to welcome Sandy Boss and Mark Yallop to the PRA Board as independent members, and Minouche Shafik and Paul Fisher as Bank members.  The Board will greatly benefit from their combined expertise and diverse experience as we further engrain a forward‑looking and judgement-based approach to prudential supervision in the UK.”

Notes for Editors

1. Spencer Dale has served as Executive Director for Financial Stability Strategy and Risk at the Bank of England since 1 June 2014. In addition to being a member of the Financial Policy Committee (FPC), Spencer’s key responsibilities include facilitating the effective operation of the FPC, assessment of risks to UK financial stability and overseeing staff analysis of both stress testing and the strategy for the use of macro-prudential tools.  Spencer previously served for 6 years on the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC), in his capacity as the Bank’s Chief Economist.  Previous roles since he joined the Bank in 1989 have included working as Private Secretary to former Governor King, and a secondment as a visiting Senior Adviser in the Division of Monetary Affairs at the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System.

2. Until the appointment of Spencer’s successor, his position on the FPC will remain vacant. Sam Woods, Director of Financial Stability Strategy and Risk, will oversee Spencer’s directorate responsibilities during that time.

3. Sandra ‘Sandy’ Boss, was a partner at McKinsey & Company since 2000 and a Senior Partner (Director) since 2005.  She was based in the US until 2008, when she moved to the UK.  She has been a strategic advisor to senior executives and boards of UK, US and global financial institutions.  She also has significant experience in the sales and trading, and transactions processing businesses of banks, broker dealers, exchanges and non-bank financial specialists.  She has worked closely with global and regional banks across the Americas, Europe and Asia on a wide range of strategy, organisation, marketing and operations issues.  She was lead author for McKinsey & Company’s 3rd annual review of the global banking industry.  Sandy received her MBA from Harvard Business School and her BA from Stanford University.

4. Mark Yallop, as UK CEO of UBS, has been responsible for overseeing all UBS businesses and operations in the UK.  He previously served as Group Chief Operating Officer of ICAP plc (2005‑2011), where he was responsible for developing the firm’s strategy, building their electronic and post-trade businesses and managing the Group’s infrastructure.  During this time the firm doubled in size and profitability and entered the FTSE 100.  Before that, Mark spent 20 years at Deutsche Bank in a variety of roles, and served for three years (1996-98) on the board of the International Swaps and Derivatives Association (ISDA), the international industry body representing the global OTC derivatives market, as well as on numerous other industry bodies and working groups.  Mark is Chairman of the £55m endowment campaign for University College Oxford, is a member of the Board of the Centre for Social Justice and of the Create the Change Development Board for the Francis Crick Institute.  He is a graduate of Oxford University, where he read Chemistry.

5. The Bank advertised in March 2014 for independent PRA Board members with specific experience of the insurance and wholesale & investment banking industries, respectively. Today’s appointments fulfil the latter role.  It remains the Bank’s intent to appoint an additional Board member with specific experience of the insurance industry, and that process is ongoing.

6. The PRA Board currently consists of three Bank members – the Governor of the Bank, and the Bank’s Deputy Governors for Financial Stability and Prudential Regulation, as well as four independent members, counting the FCA CEO as an independent.  The current independent members are Iain Cornish, Rosalind Gilmore, Charles Randell, and Martin Wheatley, the CEO of the FCA.

7. The Bank may appoint further “independent” members and must ensure that they form a majority of the Board.  With the new appointments, there will be 6 independent members and 5 Bank members.

8. Independent members must not, during their term of office, retain or accept other appointments or interests that would create a conflict with their responsibilities at the Bank. The new independent members are giving up their present positions before joining the PRA.