LONDON (MNI) – The Bank of England’s Monetary Policy, and
Financial Policy, Committees should be the key decision making bodies
and the central bank should not rely on a “God like” figure at the top,
leading UK regulator Adair Turner says.
In a Bloomberg TV interview Turner, the chairman of the Financial
Services Authority and a member of the BOE’s Financial Policy Committee,
argued in favour of a transparent BOE with decentralized decision
making. Turner is one of the favourites to take over from BOE Governor
Mervyn King next year, but in the TV interview he declined to comment on
candidates for the governorship.
Turner sketched out his thoughts on how the BOE should evolve. The
BOE is set to assume a raft of new powers next year, making it
responsible not just for monetary policy but also macro-prudential
policy and for financial sector regulation.
“I think the checks and balances are very important. The checks and
balances have worked very well in relation to the Monetary Policy
Committee and I think they are increasingly working well in relation to
the Financial Policy Committee,” he said.
“I think we ought to see a lot of the decisions that will need to
be made as coming from those committees, and subject to the process of
challenging within them, rather than depending on some sort of God like,
wise leader whoever you think that leader might be,” Turner said.
–London Bureau; Tel: +44207 862 7491; email: drobinson@marketnews.com
[TOPICS: MFBBU$,M$$BE$]
