Bank of England Legislation
The Bank was established as a corporate body by Royal Charter
under the Bank of England Act 1694. Since then there have been
a number of enactments directly affecting the Bank and its organisation.
Various statutory provisions remain in force which are concerned
with the Bank’s organisation, governance, powers and functions.
The most recent legislation is the Bank of England Act 1998
which established the arrangements for the Bank’s current
monetary policy responsibilities. Under the 1998 Act, the Banking
Supervision function that had previously been undertaken by
the Bank was transferred to the newly formed Financial Services
Authority. As a result responsibility for overall financial
stability issues effectively spanned three separate legal entities
– the Bank, the Financial Services Authority and HM Treasury.
Whilst there is no legislation that formally sets out the respective
responsibilities of the three bodies on financial stability,
a Memorandum of Understanding between the three parties was
established.
