Who Will Replace Mark Carney as Bank of England Boss?

There’s a pretty prominent position that’s about to open up with the UK government, calling for a fair amount of financial acumen and experience. The official recruitment process to find the next Governor of the Bank of England has begun, with Mark Carney set to stand down after six years of service at the end of January 2020.

For the first time in history, the British government has enlisted the services of a third-party recruitment company, Sapphire Partners, to help pinpoint the perfect candidate for the job. Despite the prominence of the position, the vacancy has been advertised publicly with a complete job description, along with a healthy salary of £480,000.

“The successful candidate must demonstrate that she or he can successfully lead, influence, and manage a complex and powerful financial institution, inspiring confidence and credibility within the bank, throughout financial markets, in the wider public arena, and on the international stage. She or he will need a broad range of capabilities ranging from macroeconomics to understanding developments in and the structure of financial markets to macro-prudential and micro-prudential supervision.” – An extract from the official job description

Of course, rank outsiders with a background in banking aren’t realistically in the running for the post. Instead, there’s a strong chance the decision is being made at this moment behind closed doors by way of an elite selection committee approaching qualified candidates directly.

Nevertheless, it had previously been suggested that the looming menace of Brexit could deter many candidates from applying for the role. Given the immediacy of the post following Britain’s possible (or otherwise) exit from the EU, the new Governor of the Bank of England could have their work cut out from day one.

The most likely candidates

In terms of who is most likely to be appointed for the role, the most prominent internal candidates right now are Chief Economist Andy H. and Bank Deputy Governor Ben Broadbent. Nemat Shafik also has a strong chance of taking over as the new governor, as does former Deputy Governor Andrew Bailey.

But what’s interesting in this instance is how the government is proactively using head-hunters to locate potential external candidates for the first time. Not only this, but it’s no secret that the chancellor is under immense pressure to appoint more female candidates to higher-level positions within the Bank of England.

The appointment of Sapphire Partners represents a clear reflection of the government’s growing advocacy of high-level female roles. The specialist recruitment agency describes itself as “advocate for women in business” and is operated by a board of five female partners.

Gender diversity within the British Government has been a growing cause of controversy as of late, with the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) having been criticised for failing to appoint sufficient female candidates. Hence, it’s widely predicted that the government will give more consideration to qualified female candidates for the position of Bank of England Governor as of January next year.

The same also applies to international candidates; the government in general is being urged to consider candidates beyond the borders of Britain.

As far as the Chancellor is concerned, whoever takes the torch from Mark Carney will have some rather large shoes to fill. The current governor of the Bank of England has “helped steer the UK economy through a challenging period,” according to Mr. Hammond.

“Under Mark’s leadership, the Bank of England has been at the forefront of reforms to make our financial system safer and more accountable,” the chancellor continued.

Along with a basic salary of £480,000, official records show that Mr. Carney actually took home a total annual salary last year of more than £880,000.