H.M. TREASURY NEWS RELEASE

HM Treasury News Release

131/99

6 August 1999

BANK OF ENGLAND: COURT APPOINTMENTS

Her Majesty the Queen has been pleased to approve the appointment of Sir Ian Gibson and Kathleen O'Donovan to the Court of the Bank of England. These appointments fill the vacancies left by Sir Colin Southgate and Sir David Lees, who stepped down after completing two terms at the end of May 1999.

The Queen has also been pleased to approve that Christopher Allsopp, Howard Davies and Sir Neville Simms be re-appointed as non-executive directors to the Court of the Bank of England.

All terms are for three years and will run until May 2002. All non-executive directors serve in a personal capacity, but bring particular experience to the Court's deliberations.

NOTES FOR EDITORS

1. Under the Bank of England Act 1998 the Court of Directors consists of the Governor, two Deputy Governors and 16 non-executive directors. These are all Crown appointments on the recommendation of the Chancellor and the Prime Minister.

2. The Court is required by the Act to determine the Bank's objectives and strategy, to ensure the effective discharge of the Bank's functions and, subject to that, to ensure the most efficient use of the Bank's resources. The Court approves the Bank's expenditure budget, which reflects the strategy determined by the Court, and monitors outturns against budget.

3. The non-executive directors, as members of the sub-committee of the Court of Directors, are required by the Act to review the Banks performance in relation to the objectives set by the Court, to monitor the extent to which the Bank is meeting its financial objectives and to keep under review the internal financial controls of the Bank. The non-executive directors make their own annual report on the discharge of these functions. All non-executive directors act in a personal capacity.

4. Although they have no involvement in, nor responsibility for, the monetary policy decisions taken by the MPC, the non-executive Directors are required under the Act to keep under review the procedures that the MPC follows, and especially to satisfy themselves that the MPC has collected the regional, sectoral and other information necessary to formulate monetary policy.

5. Sir Ian Gibson has a background in manufacturing, in particular in the North East. He is Vice President of Nissan Europe and has been deputy chairman of ASDA. Until recently he was Chairman and CEO of Nissan UK and was responsible for establishing the Nissan operation in Sunderland and for strengthening the automotive components sector which supplies it. In addition, he has served on the Tyne and Wear Development Corporation and the Council of Newcastle University. He has also been a Non-executive Director of Asda Group plc.

6. Kathleen O'Donovan is the Finance Director of Invensys and, like Sir Ian Gibson, brings an international dimension to the Court. She joined BTR as Finance Director in 1991 and retained the post when the company merged with Siebe and was renamed Invensys. Her early career was with Ernst and Young, where she was elected as a partner in 1989. Ms O'Donovan is also a non-executive director of EMI Group plc.

7. Sir Neville Simms is Group Chief Executive and Deputy Chairman of Tarmac plc and was first appointed as a non-executive director in March 1995.

8. Howard Davies, Chairman of the Financial Services Authority, has an ex-officio place on the Court. He was first appointed to the Court as Deputy Governor in September 1995. He resigned in July 1997 to become Chairman of the FSA and was reappointed to Court in March 1998.

9. Christopher Allsopp, is a fellow in economics, New College, Oxford. He was first appointed as a non-executive director in June 1997.

10. Sir Colin Southgate, Chairman of EMI Group and Sir David Lees, Chairman of Courtaulds, both stepped down after completing two terms of office on the Court. This is the practice recommended by the Commissioner for Public Appointments.

11. If you have access to the Internet, you can find this news release and other Treasury information at www.hm-treasury.gov.uk