Appointment of Charlotte Hogg As the Bank of England's Deputy Governor
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House of Commons Treasury Committee Appointment of Charlotte Hogg as the Bank of England’s Deputy Governor for Markets and Banking Eleventh Report of Session 2016–17 Report, together with formal minutes relating to the report Ordered by the House of Commons to be printed 1 March 2017 HC 1039 Published on 2 March 2017 by authority of the House of Commons The Treasury Committee The Treasury Committee is appointed by the House of Commons to examine the expenditure, administration, and policy of HM Treasury, HM Revenue and Customs and associated public bodies. Current membership Mr Andrew Tyrie MP (Conservative, Chichester) (Chair) Mr Steve Baker MP (Conservative, Wycombe) Helen Goodman MP (Labour, Bishop Auckland) Stephen Hammond MP (Conservative, Wimbledon) George Kerevan MP (Scottish National Party, East Lothian) Kit Malthouse MP (Conservative, North West Hampshire) John Mann MP (Labour, Bassetlaw) Chris Philp MP (Conservative, Croydon South) Mr Jacob Rees-Mogg MP (Conservative, North East Somerset) Rachel Reeves MP (Labour, Leeds West) Wes Streeting MP (Labour, Ilford North) The following member was also a member of the committee during the Parliament: Mark Garnier MP (Conservative, Wyre Forest) Powers The Committee is one of the departmental select committees, the powers of which are set out in House of Commons Standing Orders, principally in SO No 152. These are available on the internet via www.parliament.uk. Publication Committee reports are published on the Committee’s website at www.parliament.uk/treascom and in print by Order of the House. Evidence relating to this report is published on the inquiry page of the Committee’s website. Committee staff The current staff of the Committee are Sarah Rees (Committee Clerk), Amelia Aspden (Second Clerk), Gavin Thompson (Senior Economist), Marcus Wilton (Senior Economist), Dan Lee (Senior Economist), Adam Wales (Chief Policy Adviser), George James (Senior Committee Assistant), Iain McLean (Committee Assistant), Matt Panteli (Senior Media and Policy Officer), David Hook (on secondment from HMRC), Victoria Sena (on secondment from the Bank of England) and Ruthanne Straughan (on secondment from the FCA). Contacts All correspondence should be addressed to the Clerk of the Treasury Committee, House of Commons, London SW1A 0AA. The telephone number for general enquiries is 020 7219 5769; the Committee’s email address is [email protected]. Appointment of Charlotte Hogg as the Deputy Governor for Markets and Banking 1 Contents 1 Introduction 3 2 The appointment of Charlotte Hogg 4 Background on Charlotte Hogg 4 Our evidence 4 Conclusion 5 Formal Minutes 7 Published written evidence 8 Witnesses 9 List of Reports from the Committee during the current Parliament 10 Appointment of Charlotte Hogg as the Deputy Governor for Markets and Banking 3 1 Introduction 1. The vacancy for Deputy Governor of the Bank of England for Markets and Banking arose as a result of the early departure of Dr Nemat Shafik from this role. Dr Shafik was appointed as Deputy Governor effective from 1 August 2014. 2. The Treasury announced the appointment of Charlotte Hogg to this position on 9 February 2017. As part of her role, she will sit on the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC), Financial Policy Committee (FPC), the Prudential Regulation Committee (PRC) and she will continue to sit on the Court of the Bank of England. She will also remain as the Bank’s Chief Operating Officer. Ms Hogg has been appointed for a renewable five-year term taking effect from 1 March 2017.1 3. In this report, the Committee has considered the suitability of Ms Hogg for this role against the following criteria—personal independence and professional competence—as it has done previously for appointees to the Bank of England’s Policy Committees. But as Ms Hogg’s responsibilities as Deputy Governor range wider than just these policy committee roles, the Committee has examined some of those other responsibilities as well. 4. We took evidence from Ms Hogg on 28 February 2017. She provided a full CV and answered our questions prior to giving oral evidence. The Committee thanks her for her evidence, which is appended to this Report. 1 https://www.gov.uk/government/news/charlotte-hogg-appointed-new-deputy-governor-markets-and-banking 4 Appointment of Charlotte Hogg as the Deputy Governor for Markets and Banking 2 The appointment of Charlotte Hogg Background on Charlotte Hogg 5. Ms Hogg started her career at the Bank of England. She has also worked at McKinsey & Company, where she was a Principal in Financial Services, at Morgan Stanley, where she was Managing Director of Strategic Planning, as CEO of Goldfish Bank, Managing Director of Experian, UK & Ireland, and then Head of Retail Distribution and Intermediaries at Santander UK.2 6. Ms Hogg became the first Chief Operating Officer at the Bank of England in July 2013. She has a BA in Economics and History from Oxford, she is a Kennedy Memorial Trust Scholar from Harvard University, and has an Honorary degree of Doctor of Laws from Warwick.3 Our evidence 7. In oral evidence, the Committee questioned Ms Hogg about the role of Deputy Governor responsible for Markets and Banking, the issues facing the MPC, FPC and PRC, and how she saw herself responding to those issues. The topics we questioned Ms Hogg about included: • Her understanding of household finances • Relevance of her experience to monetary policy making • Diversity of thought in the Bank of England and her capacity to challenge the Governor • Forward guidance • The representation of the views of small businesses on the MPC • Challenges to the Bank of England’s independence • The case for merging the MPC and the FPC into one committee • Consequences of the low interest rate environment • Forecasting errors of the MPC • Managing conflicts of interest • The remit of monetary policy • Income and wealth distribution • Distributional impact of QE • Lessons learnt from her work on offshore banking facilities 2 http://www.bankofengland.co.uk/about/Pages/people/biographies/hogg.aspx 3 http://www.bankofengland.co.uk/about/Pages/people/biographies/hogg.aspx Appointment of Charlotte Hogg as the Deputy Governor for Markets and Banking 5 • The Bank’s role in improving financial inclusion • How she will reach the decision to unwind QE • How QE should be unwound • QE and the role of the Debt Management Office • The state of the gilt market • Transmission mechanism of QE • Factors that caused the “taper tantrum” • The creation of money in the economy • The dynamics of the money supply • Her thoughts on the current equilibrium rate of unemployment • Combining the role of Deputy Governor and the COO • Her tolerance of above target inflation • The role of market expectations in monetary policy • Implications of sterling movements • The countercyclical capital buffer • The calculation of Risk-Weighted Assets • Views on ring-fencing • Her role in promoting diversity in the bank • The effects of the decision to leave the EU on financial stability and the economy • Transitional arrangements to support financial markets while leaving the EU • Cyber resilience • Equivalence for UK institutions and whether to maintain international standards outside of the EU • The scale of misconduct costs to financial firms, and their prudential impact • The value of appointment hearings Conclusion 8. We are satisfied that Ms Charlotte Hogg has the professional competence and personal independence to be the Deputy Governor of the Bank of England responsible for Markets and Banking, including membership of the MPC, PRC and FPC. 6 Appointment of Charlotte Hogg as the Deputy Governor for Markets and Banking 9. We recognise that the value Ms Hogg will bring to the MPC is from her operational experience in the financial services sector, rather than a field more directly applicable to the conduct of monetary policy. 10. We are concerned about the need to develop diversity of view at the Bank and the need to maintain vigilance to counteract groupthink. 11. For her membership of both the PRC and FPC, steps will need to be taken to ensure she puts in place arrangements to address conflicts of interest or the appearance of such conflicts. Appointment of Charlotte Hogg as the Deputy Governor for Markets and Banking 7 Formal Minutes Wednesday 1 March 2017 Members present: The Rt Hon Andrew Tyrie, in the Chair Steve Baker John Mann Helen Goodman Chris Philp Stephen Hammond Mr Jacob Rees-Mogg George Kerevan Rachel Reeves Kit Malthouse Wes Streeting Draft Report (Appointment of Charlotte Hogg as the Bank of England’s Deputy Governor for Markets and Banking), proposed by the Chair, brought up and read. Ordered, That the draft Report be read a second time, paragraph by paragraph. Paragraphs 1 to 11 read and agreed to. Resolved, That the Report be the Eleventh Report of the Committee to the House. Ordered, That the Chair make the Report to the House. Ordered, That embargoed copies of the Report be made available, in accordance with the provisions of Standing Order No. 134. [Adjourned till Tuesday 7 March at 9.45 am. 8 Appointment of Charlotte Hogg as the Deputy Governor for Markets and Banking Published written evidence The following written evidence was received and can be viewed on the inquiry publications page of the Committee’s website. 1 Charlotte Hogg’s CV 2 Charlotte Hogg questionnaire Appointment of Charlotte Hogg as the Deputy Governor for Markets and Banking 9 Witnesses The following witnesses gave evidence. Transcripts can be viewed on the inquiry publications page of the Committee’s website. Tuesday 28 February 2017 Question number Charlotte Hogg, Deputy Governor, Markets and Banking, Bank of England Q1–135 10 Appointment of Charlotte Hogg as the Deputy Governor for Markets and Banking List of Reports from the Committee during the current Parliament All publications from the Committee are available on the publications page of the Committee’s website.