Next Bank governor criticised over role at watchdog

CAMPAIGNERS LED by businesswoman Gina Miller have called for a review into Andrew Bailey’s appointment as the next Bank of England governor after accusing him of a “toxic cocktail of negligence, incompetence and indifference” as head of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).

The True and Fair Campaign – set up by Mrs Miller and her husband Alan in 2012 – has published a report claiming to lay bare “systemic regulatory failure and consumer detriment” on Mr Bailey’s watch as head of the city watchdog.

Mrs Miller alleged that during his time in charge, the FCA failed to protect consumers and investors after a string of scandals, including the collapse of London Capital & Finance (LCF) and more recently the demise of Neil Woodford’s flagship investment fund.

The campaign group is demanding that new Chancellor Rishi Sunak reviews Mr Bailey’s appointment to replace Mark Carney at the helm of the Bank.

The FCA said it disputed the True and Fair Campaign report. A spokesman for the regulator said: “We utterly reject these claims, which contain numerous inaccuracies and are made with little understanding of the role of the FCA.”

Meanwhile, the FCA has admitted mistakenly publishing the details of around 1,600 consumers who complained about it.

The authority revealed the personal details of complainants on its website in response to a Freedom of Information (FOI) request, meaning the data was accessible by anyone between November 2019 and February this year.

Data leaked included names of complainants and confidential details.