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Bank of England

The Bank of England, founded in 1694 as the Governor and Company of the Bank of England, is the central bank of the United Kingdom and was originally founded to act as the banker to the English Government (it maintains this role today as banker to the government of the United Kingdom). The Bank of England operates a monopoly on the issuance of banknotes in England and Wales. The Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee (which meets monthly to decide the official interest rate of the UK) has been given a degree of independence from the government, although the Treasury can give the Committee orders in extreme circumstances, and any order must be approved by Parliament within 28 days of issuance

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Factories in turnaround on output Bank of England damps down talk of a rate rise

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Latest articles

Banks still reining in lending despite incentives

19.11.09
Despite massive injections of public money and government promises to eat up bad debt, banks are still being stingy about lending to UK businesses figures suggest... more

This Government is concerned only with surviving

19.11.09
Is that it? That was my reaction as I stood at the back of the House of Lords with other MPs listening to the Queen's Speech... more

MPC in three-way split over pouring in £25 billion

18.11.09
The Bank of England was split three ways over its decision to pump an extra £25 billion into the economy as it battles to drag Britain out of recession ... more

City and Canary Wharf ‘hit by floods’ – but don’t panic...

17.11.09
Large parts of the City and Canary Wharf were plunged into 'chaos' as the FSA, Treasury and Bank of England tested how well the financial system can cope with an Act of God... more

Petrol will hit £5 a gallon as inflation rises for the first time since February

17.11.09
Video: Surging petrol prices have pushed the rate of inflation up for the first time since February... more

‘Living wills’ to save failing banks

17.11.09
A senior member of the Bank of England today said the preparation of “living wills” so banks can be wound down when they hit financial trouble would lead to “better fire prevention and better fire-fighting” ... more

Home loans remain cheap but holidays abroad will cost more

23.10.09
The shock figures on the poor state of the economy today offer good and bad news for consumers... more

Economists fear a long battle ahead as recovery hopes dashed

23.10.09
Hopes of a swift recovery from the recession were dashed as City economists warned that Britain is now likely to face a longer battle to restore the country to prosperity... more

Bank of England is set to reverse quantitative easing

23.10.09
The Bank of England said it is ready to reverse quantitative easing as the housing market showed further signs of recovery... more

Struggling firms paying more for bank loans

22.10.09
Banks have jacked up the cost of lending to British businesses which are fighting the survive the recession... more

Crunch time ahead for private equity

13.10.09
The British Venture Capital Association deserves some marks for chutzpah ... more

QE key to rate rise timing

08.10.09
The Bank of England held interest rates at 0.5% for the seventh month running today, leaving economists speculating on when it will feel able to start pushing them up ... more

Why it’s a good thing the pound is weaker

30.09.09
One of life’s current mysteries is why people are so surprised at the abrupt decline of sterling, and in particular the weakness of the past few weeks when the markets came to the conclusion that the Bank of England would like to see the rate lower ... more

Mortgage lending bounces to six month high

29.09.09
... more

No change for interest rates as Bank takes a breather

10.09.09
The Bank of England paused for breath today amid further signs that the housing market is on the mend and the economy is pulling out of recession ... more

The Bank’s data are united: They all promise disaster

03.09.09
If there were ever any doubt about how bad the effects of recession will be and how long they might last the Bank of England’s plethora of lending data this week did all that was needed to dispel them ... more

More debt repaid than taken out for first time on record

01.09.09
... more

High Street banks hit by soaring bad debts

01.09.09
The scale of the bad debt problem facing Britain’s High Street banks and building societies was highlighted by figures buried in the Bank of England’s mass of data released ... more

City shock as inflation blip hints at early rate rises

18.08.09
The City was wrong-footed again by shock figures showing inflation remained stubbornly above expectations last month... more

Banks under pressure to pass on cuts as Libor hits record low

14.08.09
Libor, the rate at which banks lend to one another, has fallen 7.7% in the last week to a record low, piling the pressure on lenders to pass on cuts to borrowers in full... more

Bank of England decides on cash plan

05.08.09
The Bank of England was meeting to discuss its programme of printing money against a backdrop of rising confidence among UK consumers ... more

Factories in turnaround on output

03.08.09
The Bank of England’s interest-rate setters had more positive news on the economy to chew over at this week’s meeting after figures showed British factory output back in growth ... more

City 'experts' are left looking foolish by huge dive

24.07.09
City economists scrambling to rewrite forecasts for the year after a shocking decline in second-quarter output that none of them managed to predict... more

Tories way off target on bank reform

21.07.09
As a general rule of thumb, the more a politician leaks a speech in advance, the more disappointing the actual result will be when it is delivered ... more

Tories vow to scrap FSA and give power to Bank of England

20.07.09
City faces a major shake-up in banking regulations as the Tories and Liberal Democrats unveil plans for reform... more

Bank reeling from Darling's boost to FSA

26.06.09
The Bank of England was working out how it would respond to the Government's decision to strengthen the role of the FAS in banking supervision to the detriment of the central bank's powers... more

Getting the books in order is our biggest challenge

18.06.09
According to Sir Howard Davies, the first chairman of the FSA, speaking yesterday on Radio 4, research in the United States has established a link between the trust that business and investors have in the regulatory system and their willingness to invest.... more

Recovery proving elusive as the banks' lending worsens

18.06.09
Lending to businesses remains very weak, the Bank of England admitted. The data from the Bank indicate that businesses are not seeing the much-vaunted green shoots of recovery... more

Bank of England damps down talk of a rate rise

17.06.09
The Bank of England made it clear that interest rates are unlikely to move upwards any time soon... more

Consumers expect inflation to rise, says Bank survey

11.06.09
The British public expects inflation to pick up again in the coming year ... more

More related topics: Bank of England and

  • Facts
  • Since 1734, The Bank’s official headquarters have been on Threadneedle Street in the City of London, leading to the nickname Old Lady of Threadneedle Street or just Old Lady
  • As of July 2009, the current Governor of the Bank of England is Mervyn King, having taken up the post in 2003
  • During the Second World War, Nazi Germany attempted to counterfeit Bank of England banknotes to be dropped over the UK in order to destabilise the British economy. Although no notes were eventually dropped (the Luftwaffe could not spare the aircraft), by the end of the war, Operation Bernhard (which had used the labour and counterfeiting skill of a select team of concentration camp prisoners) had produced 8,965,080 banknotes valuing a total of £134,610,810
  • The £50 note features the face of Sir John Houblon, who was the first Governor of the Bank of England from 1694 to 1697

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