Hogg Roast

Given the press and media have been engulfed by the horrific events at Westminster, the implications of Brexit (yet again) and debating the virtues of Martin McGuinness since his passing, you will be forgiven for missing this nonsensical story from the Bank of England.

 

The Story……

 

Charlotte Hogg had held the position of the Bank of England’s chief operating officer since 2013 and was set to become the Bank of England Deputy Governor……second in command in essence. A big promotion and a big deal……making her the most senior female in the Bank's history

 

During her time with the Bank of England, she was responsible for and wrote the Code of Conduct for the Bank of England……which was the moral and legal compass to follow in employing senior positions held within the Bank of England.

 

However, at the eleventh hour (probably more 11:59), she resigned after failing to disclose her brother worked at Barclays and broke the Bank of England's Code of Conduct by failing to reveal the potential conflict of interest.

 

Which leads me to question a few things……

 

1. What due diligence is actually being carried out on employees by the Bank of England given they are supposed to be holding the Banking Sector to account?

 

2. Why is there no independent body responsible for the Governance of the Bank of England’s Code of Conduct? (who is regulating the regulator?)

 

3. How can a Harvard educated individual ‘forget’ to disclose on four separate occasions that they have a family member working in the banking industry……when she was the person responsible for including the question in the Code of Conduct in the first place (“Do you have a family member working in the banking industry”).

 

4. Is it possible to make the following question any simpler and easier to answer……“Do you have a family member working in the banking industry”? (I didn’t think so either).

 

This all leaves a nasty taste in the mouth. Standards not being followed and a ‘jobs for the boys / girls’ culture in an agency that is meant to be setting the highest standards. Everything you need to understand about the attitude of Government towards the banking sector and how intertwined / overlapped they are in one simple story.

 

The press in this country can be the devil’s work far too often……but if they hadn’t unearthed this then we would never have known.

 

Shameful stuff.