The Financial Policy Committee (FPC) is an official committee of the Bank of England, modelled on the already well established Monetary Policy Committee. It was announced in 2010 as a new body responsible for monitoring the economy of the United Kingdom. [1] Focusing on the macro-economic and financial issues that may threaten long term growth prospects, [2] it was expected to be officially set out in legislation during 2012. [1] Although early plans were for the interim (pre-legislation) FPC to meet in late 2010, the committee's first meeting was held in June 2011. [3] As of March 2012, the FPC is expected to take over operational responsibility for managing the financial sector from the Financial Services Authority with legislation planned for 2013. [4]
Once operational, the committee, headed by the Governor of the Bank (currently Andrew Bailey), will address any risks it identifies by passing on its concerns to a new Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA), which will be obliged to act. [2] Plans for the committee were set out in George Osborne's first Mansion House speech in June 2010, along with the creation of the PRA and a Consumer Protection and Markets Authority (CPMA, later renamed the Financial Conduct Authority, or FCA). [1] Minutes of FPC meetings are made available, [4] a move intended both "to increase transparency and to help transmit messages to the City". [2] After legislation is passed, the FPC will be fully accountable to Parliament. [1]
The Bank of England is the central bank of the United Kingdom and the model on which most modern central banks have been based. Established in 1694 to act as the English Government's banker, and still one of the bankers for the Government of the United Kingdom, it is the world's eighth-oldest bank. It was privately owned by stockholders from its foundation in 1694 until it was nationalised in 1946 by the Attlee ministry.
The Financial Services Authority (FSA) was a quasi-judicial body responsible for the regulation of the financial services industry in the United Kingdom between 2001 and 2013. It was founded as the Securities and Investments Board (SIB) in 1985. Its board was appointed by the Treasury, although it operated independently of government. It was structured as a company limited by guarantee and was funded entirely by fees charged to the financial services industry.
Mervyn Allister King, Baron King of Lothbury, is a British economist and public servant who served as the Governor of the Bank of England from 2003 to 2013.
The Office for National Statistics is the executive office of the UK Statistics Authority, a non-ministerial department which reports directly to the UK Parliament.
George Gideon Oliver Osborne is a British politician and newspaper editor who served as Chancellor of the Exchequer from 2010 to 2016. A member of the Conservative Party, he was Member of Parliament (MP) for Tatton from 2001 to 2017. He has been editor-in-chief of the London Evening Standard since 2020.
The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) is Australia's central bank and banknote issuing authority. It has had this role since 14 January 1960, when the Reserve Bank Act 1959 removed the central banking functions from the Commonwealth Bank.
The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) is a committee of the Bank of England, which meets for three and a half days, eight times a year, to decide the official interest rate in the United Kingdom.
The Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (BCBS) is a committee of banking supervisory authorities that was established by the central bank governors of the Group of Ten countries in 1974. The committee expanded its membership in 2009 and then again in 2014. In 2019, the BCBS has 45 members from 28 Jurisdictions, consisting of Central Banks and authorities with responsibility of banking regulation. It provides a forum for regular cooperation on banking supervisory matters. Its objective is to enhance understanding of key supervisory issues and improve the quality of banking supervision worldwide. The Committee frames guidelines and standards in different areas – some of the better known among them are the international standards on capital adequacy, the Core Principles for Effective Banking Supervision and the Concordat on cross-border banking supervision. The Committee's Secretariat is located at the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) in Basel, Switzerland. The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) hosts and supports a number of international institutions engaged in standard setting and financial stability, one of which is BCBS. Yet like the other committees, BCBS has its own governance arrangements, reporting lines and agendas, guided by the central bank governors of the Group of Ten (G10) countries.
Sir Paul Tucker is a British economist, central banker, and author. He was formerly the Deputy Governor of the Bank of England, with responsibility for financial stability, and served on the Bank's Monetary Policy Committee from June 2002 until October 2013 and its interim and then full Financial Policy Committee from June 2011. In November 2012 he was turned down for the position of governor in favour of Mark Carney. In June 2013, Tucker announced that he would leave the Bank of England, and later that he would be moving to Harvard. He was knighted in the 2014 New Year Honours for services to central banking. His book, Unelected Power, was published in May 2018.
Andrew John Bailey is a British central banker who has been Governor of the Bank of England since 16 March 2020.
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is a financial regulatory body in the United Kingdom, but operates independently of the UK Government, and is financed by charging fees to members of the financial services industry. The FCA regulates financial firms providing services to consumers and maintains the integrity of the financial markets in the United Kingdom.
The Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) is a United Kingdom financial services regulatory body, formed as one of the successors to the Financial Services Authority (FSA). The authority is responsible for the prudential regulation and supervision of banks, building societies, credit unions, insurers and major investment firms. It sets standards and supervises financial institutions at the level of the individual firm. Although it was initially structured as a limited company wholly owned by the Bank of England, the PRA's functions have now been taken over by the Bank and are exercised through the Prudential Regulation Committee. The company has since been liquidated.
Metro Bank plc is a retail and commercial bank operating in the United Kingdom, founded by Anthony Thomson and Vernon Hill in 2010. At its launch it was the first new high street bank to launch in the United Kingdom in over 150 years. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange.
Green Investment Group Limited (GIG) is a specialist in green infrastructure principal investment, project delivery and the management of portfolio assets, and related services.
Wonga.com, also known as Wonga, is a former British payday loan firm that was founded in 2006. The company focused on offering short-term, high-cost loans to customers via online applications, and began processing its first loans in 2007. The firm operated across several countries, including the United Kingdom, Spain, Poland and South Africa; it also operated in Canada until 2016, and in Germany, Switzerland, Austria and the Netherlands through the German payments business, BillPay, between 2013 to 2017.
The United Kingdom government austerity programme is a fiscal policy adopted in the early 21st century following the Great Recession. It is a deficit reduction programme consisting of sustained reductions in public spending and tax rises, intended to reduce the government budget deficit and the role of the welfare state in the United Kingdom. The Conservative government claimed that the National Health Service and education have been "ringfenced" and protected from direct spending cuts, but between 2010 and 2019 more than £30 billion in spending reductions have been made to welfare payments, housing subsidies and social services. The effects of United Kingdom austerity policies have proved controversial and the policies have received criticism from a variety of politicians and economists. Anti-austerity movements have been formed among citizens more generally.
The Ministry of Finance, abbreviated MOF, is a ministry of the Government of Somalia that is charged with the responsibility for government expenditure and revenue raising. The ministry's role is to develop economic policy and prepare the federal budget. The Ministry of Finance also oversees financial legislation and regulation. Each year in October, the Minister of Finance presents the Somali federal budget to the Parliament.
The British Labour Party's Economic Advisory Committee was in 2015-16 a group of economists, described as experts on globalisation, inequality and innovation, convened by Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell and reporting to Labour Party Leader Jeremy Corbyn, announced on 27 September 2015 at the Labour Party Conference in Brighton, and intended to meet on a quarterly basis to discuss and develop ideas around the official economic strategy to be advocated by the Labour Party, but not to set policy. It has been described as a way to give the Shadow Chancellor defensive cover.
Sam Woods is a New Zealand-born British civil servant. In July 2016, he became the deputy governor of the Bank of England, and head of the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA), which oversees the UK banking and insurance sectors. As head of the PRA, he succeeded Andrew Bailey, who became the head of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). Prior to his role at the Bank, Woods held positions at HM Treasury, UK Financial Investments, the Independent Commission on Banking, and earlier at Diageo and McKinsey.
Challenger banks are small, recently created retail banks in the United Kingdom that compete directly with the longer-established banks in the country, sometimes by specialising in areas underserved by the "big four" banks. As well as new entrants to the market, some challenger banks were created following divestment from larger banking groups or wind-down of a failed large bank.