‘We get it’ – Carney defends Bank’s procedures after Hogg’s resignation

MARK CARNEY has publicly defended the Bank of England’s governance procedures after deputy governor Charlotte Hogg was forced to resign last week for failing to declare her brother works for Barclays.

The governor said that while Ms Hogg’s breach of conduct was an “honest mistake”, the Bank took a “tougher response” than would be expected in the private sector, having given her a formal warning and reassigning her chief operating officer duties.

“For those who have questioned whether we ‘get it’, we do,” the governor said during a Banking Standards Board panel in London, marking his first public comments since Ms Hogg resigned last week.

“We know this honest mistake was also a serious mistake, one that was compounded by the fact that Charlotte Hogg had overseen the development of our new code.

“We were clear upfront that there must be consequences for both her and the Bank.”

Mr Carney explained that independent directors of the Bank’s Court have also launched a “widespread review” and “reconfigured reporting lines and internal structures to improve governance.

Ms Hogg stepped down less than a fortnight into the role after coming under heavy fire for not declaring the conflict of interest. However, she will remain at the Bank for up to three months for “transition purposes”.