Court approves review model and three committee appointments
The Bank of England's Court approved a model for independently led evaluations and three committee appointments. Operational updates covered a 50 percent office-attendance requirement and a target of 500 staff in Leeds by end-2027.
Independent scrutiny takes shape
Court approved proposals for independently led evaluations, with reviewers ranging from external academics and practitioners to non-executive directors, depending on the subject.
Chair David Roberts said the methodology would remain open to refinement.
Reviews would avoid overlap with the next National Audit Office review and the International Monetary Fund's ongoing Financial Sector Assessment Program.
The Independent Evaluation Office's final report on financial market infrastructure would be published in due course.
Court appointed David Craig to the Audit and Risk Committee and Paul Nowak to the Remuneration Committee.
Hanneke Smits joins the Audit and Risk Committee effective January 1, 2027.
New systems and office requirements
Chief Operating Officer Sarah John said staff must attend the office 50 percent of the time from October 1, 2026.
VISTA had gone live for testing and configuration, beginning the replacement of the legacy FAME monetary-analysis platform.
Older systems faced rising support costs.
Directors noted progress toward 500 Leeds staff by end-2027.
The location programme's business case remained positive; an independent review found its contingency acceptable.
Staff raised unclear job profiles after the Mutually Agreed Resignation scheme, while Governors acknowledged uncertainty.
QT terms remain unstated
Governor Andrew Bailey was invited to brief Court after the noon announcement on the annual Quantitative Tightening decision and Treasury discussions.
These minutes provide no QT amount or pace.
Sir Dave Ramsden cited the operational discussions as evidence of strong working relations with HM Treasury.