UK shadow chancellor John McDonnell has criticised chancellor of the Exchequer Sajid Javid’s choice of naming Andrew Bailey as the next governor of the Bank of England (BoE).
Bailey is currently chief executive of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), which has been rocked by several scandals during his tenure in charge – such as the collapse of London Capital & Finance (LCF), the Woodford Equity Fund suspension and RBS Group’s small business lending controversy.
“Many, many people – many on low incomes – were hit extremely hard,” McDonnell told the House of Commons on Tuesday.
Dodging the question
He then went on to ask the chancellor whether he had consulted with any of the victims affected by the scandals before handing Bailey the top job at the BoE.
Javid, however, dodged the question and, instead, praised the FCA boss for his resume and credentials.
“No response was received. He clearly didn’t [ask the victims],” the shadow chancellor replied.
“I just refer to the issue with regard to the Woodford Group, from the filings lodged today [7 January 2020] at Companies House, it’s reported that £13.8m ($18.1m, €16.2m) of dividends were received by Mr Neil Woodford and his chief executive in the 12 months leading up to the crisis that engulfed Woodford Investment Management and affected so many investors deleteriously.
“This adds to my concerns already expressed by others, that Mr Bailey was asleep at the wheel during his period of office at the FCA.
“Labour has already called for a short, sharp inquiry into the recent scandals and into the regulation of the financial services sector,” he added, before urging Javid to halt Bailey’s appointment until an independent inquiry has taken place.
