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About the Bank

The Court of Directors

The Bank of England Act 1998, which came into force on 1 June 1998, changed the constitution and duties of the Court of Directors from that set out in the previous Act of 1946, strengthening the Bank's governance and accountability, as well as formalising the Bank's responsibility for the conduct of monetary policy.

The Banking Act 2009 introduced a number of reforms to the governance of the Bank of England, including modernising the operations of Court reducing its size from 19 down to 12 members, of whom a majority must be non-executive and formalising the current arrangements.  The Chancellor of the Exchequer has designated Sir David Lees to Chair the meetings of Court.  

The Act provides for the appointment, by the Crown, of a Governor, two Deputy Governors and nine non-executive Directors.  The term of appointment for the Governor and two Deputy Governors is five years and for the Directors, three years, all of which are renewable.  This year though, some are initially appointed for different durations so as to stagger end dates and help ensure continuity.

Photographs and Involvements

Court meets a minimum of seven times in a calendar year, and its functions are to manage the Bank's affairs other than the formulation of monetary policy, which is the responsibility of the Monetary Policy Committee . This includes determining the Bank's objectives and strategy, ensuring the effective discharge of the Bank's functions , ensuring the most efficient use of the Bank's resources and to review the Bank’s strategy in relation to the Financial Stability Objective.

Under the Bank of England Act 1998, certain functions of Court are delegated to a sub-committee comprising the nine non-executive Directors of the Bank. This sub-committee is known as NedCo.

The delegated functions are:-

  1. keeping under review the Bank's performance in relation to its objectives and strategy for the time being determined by Court;
  2. monitoring the extent to which the objectives set in relation to the Bank's financial management have been met;
  3. keeping under review the internal financial controls of the Bank with a view to securing the proper conduct of its financial affairs;
  4. determining how the remuneration and pensions of the executive members of Court should be fixed;
  5. keeping under review the procedures following by the Monetary Policy Committee, including determining whether the Monetary Policy Committee has collected the regional, sectoral and other information necessary for the purposes of formulating monetary policy;
  6. determining the terms and conditions of the members of the Monetary Policy Committee who are appointed by the Chancellor of the Exchequer.
Mervyn Allister King, Esq.
Governor

(First appointed to Court 1 March 1990, appointed Executive Director 1 March 1991 and appointed Deputy Governor on 1 June 1998)
Mervyn Allister King, Esq
Date of first appointment in current position
1 July 2003
Expiry date of appointment
30 June 2013
       
Charles Bean
Deputy Governor, Monetary Policy
Charles Bean
Date of first appointment in current position
1 July 2008
Expiry date of appointment
30 June 2013
       
Paul Tucker
Deputy Governor, Financial Stability

Paul Tucker
Date of first appointment in current position
1 March 2009
Expiry date of appointment
28 February 2014
       
Brendan Paul Barber, Esq.
General Secretary, Trades Union Congress
Brendan Barber
Date of first appointment in current position
1 June 2003
Expiry date of appointment
31 May 2011
       
Roger Carr, Esq.
Chairman of Centrica plc and Cadbury Schweppes plc
Mr Roger Carr
Date of first appointment in current position
1 June 2007
Expiry date of appointment
31 May 2011
       
Sir David Lees
Chair of Court
Sir David Lees
Date of first appointment in current position
1 June 2009
Expiry date of appointment
31 May 2012
       
António Horta-Osório
Chief Executive of Abbey National plc
Antonio Horta-Osorio
Date of first appointment in current position
1 June 2009
Expiry date of appointment
31 May 2012
       
Ms Susan Rice, FCIBS D.BA
Chief Executive, Lloyds TSB Scotland plc and and Managing Director of Lloyds Banking Group Scotland
Ms Susan Rice
Date of first appointment in current position
1 June 2007
Expiry date of appointment
31 May 2011
 
Mark Tucker
Group Chief Executive of Prudential plc
Mark Tucker
Date of first appointment in current position
1 June 2009
Expiry date of appointment
31 May 2012
 
Lord Adair Turner
Chairman, Financial Services Authority
Lord Adair Turner
Date of first appointment in current position
20 September 2008
Expiry date of appointment
31 May 2012
       
Harrison Young
Non-Executive Director of the Commonwealth Bank of Australia
 
Harrison Young

Date of first appointment in current position
1 June 2009
 Expiry date of appointment
31 May 2011
 

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