Bank of England appoints two women to Financial Policy Committee after criticism over diversity

Dame Colette Bowe and Dame Jayne-Anne Gadhia to become external members of FPC which works to ensure stability of financial system

The Treasury has appointed two women to the Bank of England's financial policy committee (FPC), the chancellor announced on Thursday.

Dame Colette Bowe and Dame Jayne-Anne Gadhia will become external members of the FPC which works to ensure the stability of the financial system. Three of thirteen members of the FPC will be women following the appointments.

It comes after the central bank was criticised for allowing gender diversity to go into reverse at senior levels.

The bank's annual report revealed in July that the proportion of women in top positions fell from 30 per cent to 29 per cent a year earlier. It's latest gender pay gap figures show women are paid 24.2 per cent less than men, a discrepancy the BoE said was down to fewer women in senior roles.

Nicky Morgan, chair of the Treasury Committee, wrote to Chancellor Philip Hammond in October 2017 asking for evidence proving that “all efforts” were being made to promote gender and ethnic diversity at the BoE.

Last year, a report by the committee found that across the financial services sector, just 23 per cent of board members and 14 per cent of executive committee members were women.

On the BoE's nine-person Monetary Policy Committee (MPC), which sets interest rates, Sylvena Tenreyro is the only woman.

The two new FPC members bring a wealth of financial services experience. Dame Jayne-Anne has represented the finance industry as a board member of UK Finance, a trade body.

She currently provides industry input to the Financial Conduct Authority through her membership of its Practitioner Panel and was chief executive of Virgin Money from 2007 until 2018 when it merged with CYBG.

She led the Government’s review into equality and inclusion in financial services and was made a dame in the 2019 New Year Honours List for services to women in finance.

Dame Colette is the current chair of the Banking Standards Board, a trustee of the IFRS foundation, a trustee of the Nuffield Foundation, and a visiting fellow at Nuffield College, Oxford. Until recently she was also a board member of the UK Statistics Authority and the Department for Transport.

The pair will replace Richard Sharp and Martin Taylor, who are stepping down at the end of Q1 2019 and Q2 2019 respectively.

The FPC acts to enhance the resilience of the financial system and prevent crises by setting required capital levels for banks and taking action against relaxing of mortgage underwriting standards among other methods.

Chancellor Phillip Hammond said the FPC's importance to the protection and resilience of our economy "cannot be overstated".

“The insight and experience that both Dame Colette and Dame Jayne-Anne bring will be valuable assets to the Committee’s vital work,” Mr Hammond said.

Bank of England Governor Mark Carney said he was “delighted” by the appointments.

“As Chair of the Banking Standards Board, Colette has led the way in developing and embedding better standards of conduct across the banking sector. Her experience in the private sector and handling some of the biggest regulatory challenges of our times will also be extremely valuable to the Committee’s deliberations in the coming years.

“Jayne-Anne brings deep and relevant experience in retail banking and her successful business career. In her public policy she has championed the transformative impact of adopting new technologies and of greater diversity within the workforce of the financial services industry. We also greatly look forward to her contributions to the work of the Committee.”