BoE’s Hogg embroiled in controversy after omitting Barclays link

Bank of England Deputy Governor Charlotte Hogg has found her appointment at the centre of a controversy after she failed to disclose a family link to Barclays.Hogg, who took over as the deputy in charge of markets and banking this month, revealed in a letter to lawmakers that she didn’t tell the BoE her brother worked for the bank when she was hired as chief operating officer in 2013.She also didn’t mention it in her application for deputy governor, a job that involves some supervision of UK financial institutions. The declaration was only made after her appointment, in a questionnaire she completed for the Treasury Committee.Hogg said she takes “full responsibility for this oversight” and apologised for not giving accurate information at her appointment hearing late last month. Her family links dominated a large part of the hearing at the committee, which said that “steps must be taken” to ensure there are no conflicts of interest.Hogg’s omission shines a spotlight on the BoE’s own compliance processes, with lawmaker Jacob Rees-Mogg stating “We’ve gone from being concerned about Ms Hogg’s error, to being concerned about the bank’s response.”At a hearing a week ago, Hogg told lawmakers that she was “in compliance with all of our codes of conduct. I know that; I helped to write them.” She also said it’s a possibility that she would excuse herself from some discussions on Barclays. Her brother Quintin Hogg works as a director at Barclays Investment Bank.The chair and deputy chair of the BoE’s governing body were grilled on the issue at a separate hearing yesterday, where they said it would be discussed, but tried to downplay the seriousness of the offence. Deputy chair Bradley Fried said it was an “unwillful act of omission.”“I definitely don’t believe it’s a hanging offense,” Fried told Parliament yesterday. “It’s terribly unfortunate. It warrants grumpiness.”The BoE did not immediately respond to a request to comment.The appointment, which was made by the UK Treasury, is the second in recent years to bring up a conflict-of-issue question after controversy in 2015 surrounding Gertjan Vlieghe’s appointment to the Monetary Policy Committee. The former economist at Brevan Howard Asset Management had initially planned to retain rights to a share of future payouts from the firm before later announcing he’d sell his interest.Hogg said in her letter that she has since spoken with the chair of the BoE’s governing body and he acknowledges that “no actual or potential conflict of interest has arisen” while Hogg has been COO.However, with her new role giving her an expanded remit, she plans to discuss the issue with the BoE’s MPC, Financial Policy Committee and Prudential Regulation Committee to allow them decide if there is any risk and whether any further steps are necessary.“It was just an honest mistake that she made, not declaring it then,” said Anthony Habgood, chairman of the Court, in testimony to lawmakers. “That of course gets more tricky with the next job.”