BoE considering legal action over hoax press release

The Bank of England is considering legal action after a fake press release was published on a convincing mock-up of the real BoE website.

The press release was emailed to journalists on December 7 and published on a website with a similar URL to the real BoE website. The design of the fake web page is almost indistinguishable from the real site, and the wording of the press release appears to mimic the style of the BoE’s communications.

The fake statement said the BoE was amending its corporate bond purchase scheme to exclude certain assets on the basis of climate change risk. Though the statement is false, green conditionality is something the BoE is genuinely considering for its corporate bond-buying.

In an official statement, the BoE said it investigates any misuse of its name “and will consider further legal options to require groups which so mis-use it to cease and desist”.

A group of activists calling themselves the ‘Yes Men’ later claimed credit for the stunt. In a statement, the group argued BoE governor Andrew Bailey was talking about climate change but not taking sufficient action. The group was more complimentary about former governor Mark Carney, who “led the bank towards addressing the climate crisis”, the statement said.

Besides claiming credit, the group issued a fake “press advisory” on a second copy of the BoE’s website, with a different URL, warning journalists to ignore the original fake. It also put out a fake statement on behalf of the Network for Greening the Financial System, welcoming the BoE’s decision, with yet another faked URL. The real NGFS has not issued an official statement.

BoE executive director Sarah Breeden acknowledged to parliamentarians in September that the central bank had not applied green conditionality to the emergency facilities it launched in the wake of the Covid-19 crisis. Doing so would have run counter to the goal of making the support measures “big, broad and fast”, Breeden said.

However, she said the BoE was investigating green conditions on its corporate bond purchases, and would consider buying green sovereign debt if it became available. At the time, the UK government had not issued any green debt; it now says it will launch green bonds. The BoE must consult with the Treasury before changing its approach to the bond facility.

Bailey took over as governor from Carney in March, at the height of the market crisis triggered by Covid-19. Since then, Bailey has emphasised the need for central banks to take action on climate risks. The BoE will be holding its first climate stress tests in 2021, having delayed them due to Covid-19.