Bank of England (BoE)
Fund manager knocks Bank's role in Rock saga
Philip Richards, the chief executive of RAB Capital, one of two hedge funds that are the biggest shareholders in Northern Rock, the beleaguered mortgage lender, attacked the Bank of England and its governor, Mervyn King, for its handling of the credit…
UK opposition party call for more power for Bank
David Cameron and George Osborne, two senior politicians from Britain's main opposition party, the Conservatives, are pressing for the Bank of England to take on more responsibility for financial regulation.
Stability not gradualism has influenced UK MPC
The relative paucity of rate changes at the Bank of England since the institution became independent in 1997 is down to the increased stability of inflation and output growth, rather than a rise in the degree of gradualism, research published by the Bank…
Rock repays Bank debt with JPMorgan sale
Northern Rock, the beleaguered British mortgage lender, is to pay back some of its Bank of England debt through the sale of a mortgage portfolio worth £2.2 billion to JPMorgan, the- American investment bank.
Rock action set for wider ambit
The scope of the regulatory response to Northern Rock will be much broader than originally anticipated, Alistair Darling, the British chancellor of the exchequer, said on Thursday.
UK rates held at 5.5%
The Bank of England's monetary policy committee (MPC) on Thursday voted to keep the benchmark bank rate at 5.5%.
Central banks partly to blame for crunch
The creation of excessive global liquidity by key central banks was one of a number of phenomena that led to the current financial crisis, says Willem Buiter, a former member of the Bank of England's monetary policy committee, now an economics professor…
BoE credit survey shows crunch impacting lending
The Bank of England's credit conditions survey, published on Thursday, signalled a marked decline in lending to households and businesses towards the end of 2007.
Interbank rates plummet as year-end passes
Pressure on the banking industry eased on Wednesday with spreads between money market and central banks' benchmark interest rates narrowing as the end-of-year liquidity panic passed. The falls indicate that the central banks' efforts to alleviate some of…
Regulators can't ensure clarity, only encourage it
In the wake of the credit crisis, central bankers and other financial regulators should use their clout to back the standardisation of financial instruments rather than trying to legislate for transparency, says Claire Jones, the editor of Central Bank…
The blame game
The decision of many central banks, most notably the Federal Reserve, to lower rates in the wake of the dotcom crash, has drawn criticism from some quarters post-credit crunch. But, Claire Jones, editor of Central Bank News, argues blame for the crisis…
Journalist defends Old Lady's "low morale" claims
Irwin Stelzer, the journalist who wrote last week that a senior Bank of England official had said the British chancellor and prime minister were blocking changes to banking regulation because of low morale, has described it as "a pity" that Mervyn King,…
Rate setters act on inflation not job location
Little evidence exists of any systematic differences in the voting habits of internally- and externally-appointed members of the Bank of England's monetary policy committee, research published by the Bank finds.
Bank of England committee unanimously backed cut
All nine members of the Bank of England's monetary policy committee voted in favour of cutting rates to 5.5% earlier this month, minutes published on Wednesday reveal.
Banks take Old Lady's money
The Bank of England's adoption of a new auction method for open market operations met with success on Tuesday as all of the available funds were allocated.
China's Zhou speaks on financial stability
Flexibility and adaptability must be improved if central banks are to successfully deal with financial instability, says Zhou Xiaochuan, the governor of the People's Bank of China.
Only banks can fully solve lending problem: King
No amount of central bank liquidity can bring interbank rates back down to normal levels, Mervyn King, the governor of the Bank of England, said on Tuesday.
Old Lady denies reports of government criticism
The Bank of England countered reports published over the weekend that an unnamed senior Bank of England official had said low government morale was blocking plans for a fundamental overhaul of the financial regulatory system.
Bank of England - Quarterly Bulletin
Details of the impact of Northern Rock's use of the lender of last resort facility on the Bank of England's open market operations are noted in the latest edition of the Quarterly Bulletin.
UK's inflation expectations reach eight-year high
Britons' inflation expectations rose to the highest level for eight years in November, the Bank of England's Inflation Attitudes Survey has revealed.
Officials praise central bankers' collaboration
Central bankers and politicians across the globe offered swift and unanimous approval for Wednesday's concerted effort to inject liquidity in a bid to counter dogged interbank tensions.
Joint effort failing to counter interbank tension
Interbank rates stayed high and markets plummeted on Thursday in spite of the collective action launched by five of the most powerful central banks on Wednesday.
Cooperation can't get to root cause of crunch
The central banks' coordinated attempt to bring interbank rates down may alleviate liquidity pressures, but not the mistrust the lies at the core of the crunch, says Avinash Persaud, the chairman of Intelligence Capital, a financial advisory firm.
BoE's Paul Tucker on global credit crunch
Paul Tucker, executive director for markets at the Bank of England and a member of the monetary policy committee, at a speech on Thursday, analysed the difficulties facing central banks in correctly diagnosing changes in credit conditions and asset…