Editing Bank of England (section)

===20th century===
[[File:Bank of England £5 note 1952.jpg|thumb|The Bank's classic white [[five pound note]] remained in circulation until 1957.]]
Until 1931 Britain was on the [[gold standard]], meaning the value of sterling was fixed by the price of gold. That year, the Bank of England had to [[Great Depression in the United Kingdom#Emergency measures|take Britain off the gold standard]] due to the effects of [[Great Depression]] spreading to Europe.<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal |last=Morrison |first=James Ashley |date=2016 |title=Shocking Intellectual Austerity: The Role of Ideas in the Demise of the Gold Standard in Britain |url=http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/84613/2/Morrison_ShockingIntellectualAusterity_2017.pdf |url-status=live |journal=International Organization |language=en |volume=70 |issue=1 |pages=175–207 |doi=10.1017/S0020818315000314 |issn=0020-8183 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201104124106/http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/84613/2/Morrison_ShockingIntellectualAusterity_2017.pdf |archive-date=4 November 2020 |access-date=8 September 2020 |s2cid=155189356}}</ref>

====1913 attempted bombing====
{{See also|Suffragette bombing and arson campaign}} 
[[File:London - City of London Police Museum, Suffragette bombs.jpg|thumb|left|upright|Two [[suffragette]] bombs on display at the [[City of London Police Museum]] in 2019. The bomb on the left was used in an attempted bombing outside the bank on 4 April 1913, an attack that likely would have caused many casualties had it not been foiled.]]
A [[terrorist]] bombing was attempted outside the Bank of England building on 4&nbsp;April 1913. A bomb was discovered smoking and ready to explode next to railings outside the building.<ref name="GoogleArts">{{Cite web |title=Suffragette bombings – City of London Corporation |url=https://artsandculture.google.com/exhibit/suffragette-bombings/5AJygPLt7aWiKg |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210513092641/https://artsandculture.google.com/exhibit/suffragette-bombings/5AJygPLt7aWiKg |archive-date=13 May 2021 |access-date=2021-10-02 |website=Google Arts & Culture |language=en}}</ref><ref name="Riddell">{{Cite book |last=Riddell |first=Fern |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KQWgDwAAQBAJ |title=Death in Ten Minutes: The forgotten life of radical suffragette Kitty Marion |publisher=Hodder & Stoughton |year=2018 |isbn=978-1-4736-6621-4 |page=124 |language=en |access-date=2 October 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211016131918/https://books.google.com/books?id=KQWgDwAAQBAJ |archive-date=16 October 2021 |url-status=live}}</ref> The bomb had been planted as part of the [[suffragette bombing and arson campaign]], in which the [[Women's Social and Political Union]] (WSPU) launched a series of politically motivated bombing and arson attacks nationwide as part of their campaign for women's suffrage.<ref name="Riddell"/><ref>{{Cite web |title=Suffragettes, violence and militancy |url=https://www.bl.uk/votes-for-women/articles/suffragettes-violence-and-militancy |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210910203912/https://www.bl.uk/votes-for-women/articles/suffragettes-violence-and-militancy |archive-date=10 September 2021 |access-date=2021-10-02 |website=The British Library}}</ref> The bomb was defused before it could detonate, in what was then one of the busiest public streets in the capital, which likely prevented many civilian casualties.<ref name="Riddell"/><ref name="Walker">{{Cite journal |last=Walker |first=Rebecca |year=2020 |title=Deeds, Not Words: The Suffragettes and Early Terrorism in the City of London |url=https://doi.org/10.1080/03058034.2019.1687222 |url-status=live |journal=The London Journal |volume=45 |issue=1 |pages=53–64 |doi=10.1080/03058034.2019.1687222 |issn=0305-8034 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220801163307/https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/03058034.2019.1687222 |archive-date=1 August 2022 |access-date=2 October 2021 |s2cid=212994082}}</ref> The bomb had been planted the day after WSPU leader [[Emmeline Pankhurst]] was sentenced to three years' imprisonment for carrying out a bombing on the home of politician [[David Lloyd George]].<ref name="GoogleArts"/>

The remains of the bomb, which was built into a [[milk churn]], are now on display at the [[City of London Police Museum]].<ref name="Walker"/>

====Restructuring and rebuilding====
During the governorship of [[Montagu Norman]], from 1920 to 1944, the bank made deliberate efforts to move away from [[commercial bank]]ing and become a central bank. A later Governor, [[Robin Leigh-Pemberton, Baron Kingsdown|Robin Leigh-Pemberton]], described it as 'a time of rapid change, in which we began to move away from the clerical traditions of 200 years [...] and to accept specialisation, mechanisation and modern management disciplines'.<ref name="Hennessy1992" /> Economists and statisticians began to be employed at the bank in increasing number. In 1931 the 'Peacock Committee', set up to advise on organisational improvements, published recommendations which included the appointment of paid executive Directors (alongside the traditional non-executive members of the Court). It also recommended reconfiguration of the bank's traditional departmental structures.

[[File:Bank of England Building, City of London (Southwest View - 02).jpg|thumb|right|Baker's rebuilt bank stands behind Soane's part-preserved curtain wall.]]
The work of the bank had significantly increased since the end of the First World War, and the decision was taken to expand. Between 1925 and 1939 the bank's headquarters on Threadneedle Street were comprehensively rebuilt by [[Herbert Baker]]. (This involved the demolition of most of Sir John Soane's buildings, an act described by architectural historian [[Nikolaus Pevsner]] as "the greatest architectural crime, in the [[City of London]], of the twentieth century".)<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Bradley |first1=Simon |title=London 1: The City of London |last2=Pevsner |first2=Nikolaus |publisher=Penguin Books |year=1997 |isbn=0-14-071092-2 |series=Buildings of England}}</ref> Initially the plan had been to retain Soane's banking halls behind the curtain wall, but this proved challenging so they were instead demolished and rebuilt in facsimile.<ref name="Sayers1976">{{cite book |last1=Sayers |first1=R. S. |authorlink1=Richard Sidney Sayers |title=The Bank of England 1891-1944 |date=1976 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=Cambridge |pages=338–341}}</ref> The demolition and rebuilding took place in stages, with staff moving from one part of the building to another (or, in some cases, into temporary accommodation at [[Finsbury Circus]]). The bullion and securities remained on site throughout. During reconstruction human remains pertaining to the old churchyard of St Christopher le Stocks were exhumed and reburied at [[Nunhead Cemetery]].

[[File:Statue over the Bank of England from Tivoli Corner.jpg|thumb|left|Statue of [[Ariel (The Tempest)|Ariel]] by Charles Wheeler]]
Baker's [[steel-framed]] building stands seven storeys high, with a further three vault storeys extending below ground level. It is decorated with sculpture and bronze work by [[Charles Wheeler (sculptor)|Charles Wheeler]], plasterwork by Joseph Armitage and mosaics by [[Boris Anrep]].<ref name="Sayers1976" /> The bank today is a [[Grade I listed]] building.

1939 saw the introduction of [[Exchange Controls in the United Kingdom]] at the outbreak of the [[Second World War]]; these were administered by the bank.<ref name="Hennessy1992" /> During WWII, over 10% of the face value of circulating Pound Sterling banknotes were forgeries produced by Germany.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=History |url=https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/about/history |access-date=2022-11-04 |website=www.bankofengland.co.uk |language=en}}</ref>

A number of the bank's operations and staff were relocated to Hampshire for the duration of the war, including the printing works (which moved to [[Overton, Hampshire|Overton]]), the Accountant's Department (which went to [[Hurstbourne Park]]) and various other offices. Those who remained at Threadneedle Street, including the Directors, moved their offices into the underground vaults.<ref name="Hennessy1992" />

====Post-war nationalisation====
In 1946, shortly after the end of Montagu Norman's tenure, [[Bank of England Act 1946|the bank was nationalised]] by the [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour]] government. At the same time the number of Directors was reduced to sixteen (four of whom were full-time Executive Directors).<ref name="Hennessy1992" />

The bank pursued the multiple goals of Keynesian economics after 1945, especially "easy money" and low-interest rates to support aggregate demand. It tried to keep a fixed exchange rate and attempted to deal with inflation and sterling weakness by credit and exchange controls.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Fforde |first=John |title=The Role of the Bank of England and Public Policy 1941–1958 |date=1992 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-39139-9 |location=Cambridge}}{{Page needed|date=April 2022}}</ref>

[[File:London skyline 5.jpg|thumb|left|Bank of England New Change (bottom right) as seen from St Paul's]]
After the war, the very large Accountant's Department (which managed the stock side of the bank) moved back to London from Hampshire. Its designated office-space at Threadneedle Street, however, had in the meantime been taken over by the Exchange Control office. The department was instead provided with temporary accommodation (once more in Finsbury Circus), pending construction of a new building, which would occupy a two-acre [[bombsite]] immediately to the east of [[St Paul's Cathedral]]. 'Bank of England New Change' was designed by Victor Heal and opened in 1957 (at the time it was London's biggest post-war rebuilding project);<ref>{{cite web |title=Bank of England New Change |url=https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/CalmView/Record.aspx?src=CalmView.Persons&id=DS%2FUK%2F618 |website=Bank of England Archive |access-date=4 January 2024}}</ref> the new building contained several staff amenities alongside the office accommodation and, at street level, retail units were let to an assortment of businesses. The bank had the building on a 200-year lease; but with the advent of computerisation staff numbers were drastically reduced in the 1980s-90s; parts of the building were let to other firms (most notably the law firm [[Allen & Overy]]). The bank sold the building in 2000 and in 2007 it was demolished; [[One New Change]] now stands on the site.

The bank's "[[Bank of England 10 shilling note|10 bob note]]" was withdrawn from circulation in 1970 in preparation for [[Decimal Day]] in 1971.

[[File:United Kingdom bonds.webp|thumb|United Kingdom bonds 
{{legend-line|#012169 solid 3px|50 year}}
{{legend-line|#61D836 solid 3px|20 year}}
{{legend-line|#929292 solid 3px|10 year}}
{{legend-line|#F8BA00 solid 3px|2 year}}
{{legend-line|#C8102E solid 3px|1 year}}
{{legend-line|#FF95CA solid 3px|3 month}}
{{legend-line|#73FDEA solid 3px|1 month}}
{{see also|Inverted yield curve}}
]]
In 1977 the bank set up a wholly owned subsidiary called [[Bank of England Nominees|Bank of England Nominees Limited]] (BOEN), a now-defunct private limited company, with two of its hundred £1 shares issued. According to its memorandum of association, its objectives were: "To act as Nominee or agent or attorney either solely or jointly with others, for any person or persons, partnership, company, corporation, government, state, organisation, sovereign, province, authority, or public body, or any group or association of them". Bank of England Nominees Limited was granted an exemption by [[Edmund Dell]], Secretary of State for Trade, from the disclosure requirements under Section 27(9) of the Companies Act 1976, because "it was considered undesirable that the disclosure requirements should apply to certain categories of shareholders". The Bank of England is also protected by its [[royal charter]] status and the [[Official Secrets Act]].<ref>{{Cite news |date=2015-07-27 |title=27 July 1694: the Bank of England is created by Royal Charter |language=en-GB |work=MoneyWeek |url=https://moneyweek.com/27-july-1694-the-bank-of-england-is-created-by-royal-charter |url-status=live |access-date=2018-01-02 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180103072524/https://moneyweek.com/27-july-1694-the-bank-of-england-is-created-by-royal-charter |archive-date=3 January 2018}}</ref> BOEN was a vehicle for governments and heads of state to invest in UK companies (subject to approval from the Secretary of State), providing they undertake "not to influence the affairs of the company".<ref>{{Cite web |title=Proceedings of the House of Commons, 21st April 1977 |url=https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/written-answers/1977/apr/21/shareholdings-disclosure |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110627195641/http://hansard.millbanksystems.com/written_answers/1977/apr/21/shareholdings-disclosure |archive-date=27 June 2011 |work=[[Parliamentary Debates (Hansard)]] |date=21 April 1977 |access-date=1 June 2011}}; {{Cite news |title=Horses, stamps, cars – and an invisible portfolio |url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2002/may/30/jubilee.monarchy2 |location=London |work=The Guardian |date=30 May 2002 |access-date=17 December 2016 |archive-date=27 September 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160927190824/https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2002/may/30/jubilee.monarchy2 |url-status=live}}</ref> In its later years, BOEN was no longer exempt from company law disclosure requirements.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Proceedings of the House of Lords, 26th April 2011 |url=http://services.parliament.uk/hansard/Lords/bydate/20110426/writtenanswers/part021.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111122173255/http://services.parliament.uk/hansard/Lords/ByDate/20110426/writtenanswers/part021.html |archive-date=22 November 2011 |access-date=31 May 2011}}</ref> Although a [[dormant company]],<ref>{{Cite web |title=Bank of England Nominees Company Accounts |url=https://www.scribd.com/doc/56089866/BANK-OF-ENGLAND-NOMINEES-LIMITED-Company-accounts-from-Level-Business |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161201024434/https://www.scribd.com/doc/56089866/BANK-OF-ENGLAND-NOMINEES-LIMITED-Company-accounts-from-Level-Business |archive-date=1 December 2016 |access-date=8 September 2017}}</ref> dormancy does not preclude a company actively operating as a nominee shareholder.<ref>Fire example, {{Cite web |title=Nominee Service |url=http://www.pilling.com/Nominee-Service.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120425051438/http://www.pilling.com/Nominee-Service.htm |archive-date=25 April 2012 |access-date=12 September 2011 |publisher=Pilling & Co. Stockbrokers Ltd.}}</ref> BOEN had two shareholders: the Bank of England, and the Secretary of the Bank of England.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Freedom of Information Act response regarding Bank of England Nominees Limited |url=http://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/28738/response/74019/attach/2/D.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160828072151/https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/28738/response/74019/attach/2/D.pdf |archive-date=28 August 2016 |access-date=31 May 2011}}</ref>

The [[reserve requirement]] for banks to hold a minimum fixed proportion of their deposits as reserves at the Bank of England was abolished in 1981: see {{Format link|Reserve requirement#United Kingdom}} for more details. The contemporary transition from Keynesian economics to Chicago economics was analysed by [[Nicholas Kaldor]] in ''The Scourge of Monetarism''.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cj6wAAAAIAAJ |title=The Scourge of Monetarism |date=1 January 1982 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=9780198771876 |access-date=19 August 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210427043307/https://books.google.com/books?id=cj6wAAAAIAAJ |archive-date=27 April 2021 |url-status=live}}</ref>

The handing over of monetary policy to the bank became a key plank of the [[Liberal Democrats (UK)|Liberal Democrats]]' economic policy for the [[1992 United Kingdom general election|1992 general election]].<ref>Liberal Democrat election manifesto, 1992.</ref> [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative]] MP [[Nicholas Budgen]] had also proposed this as a [[private member's bill]] in 1996, but the bill failed as it had the support of neither the government nor the opposition.

The UK government left the expensive-to-maintain [[European Exchange Rate Mechanism]] in September 1992, in an action that cost HM Treasury over £3 billion. This led to closer communication between the government and the bank.<ref name=":0" />

[[File:Uk inflation history.webp|thumb|300px|right|UK inflation history since 1960 {{see also|1976 sterling crisis}}]]
In 1993, the bank produced its first ''Inflation Report'' for the government, detailing inflationary trends and pressures. This annually produced report remains one of the bank's major publications.<ref name=":0" /> The success of [[inflation target]]ing in the United Kingdom has been attributed to the bank's focus on transparency.<ref name="IMF01">{{Cite web |title=Targeting Inflation: The United Kingdom in Retrospect |url=https://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/seminar/2000/targets/strach7.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170123074911/https://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/seminar/2000/targets/strach7.pdf |archive-date=23 January 2017 |access-date=31 October 2016 |publisher=International Monetary Fund}}</ref> The Bank of England has been a leader in producing innovative ways of communicating information to the public, especially through its Inflation Report, which many other central banks have emulated.<ref name="NBER01">{{Cite web |title=Inflation Targeting Has Been A Successful Monetary Policy Strategy |url=https://www.nber.org/digest/apr98/w6126.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161031214632/http://www.nber.org/digest/apr98/w6126.html |archive-date=31 October 2016 |access-date=31 October 2016 |publisher=[[National Bureau of Economic Research]]}}</ref>

The bank celebrated its three-hundredth birthday in 1994.<ref name=":0" />

In 1996, the bank produced its first ''Financial Stability Review''. This annual publication became known as the ''Financial Stability Report'' in 2006.<ref name=":0" /> Also that year, the bank set up its [[real-time gross settlement]] (RTGS) system to improve risk-free settlement between UK banks.<ref name=":0" />

On 6 May 1997, following the [[1997 United Kingdom general election|1997 general election]] that brought a Labour government to power for the first time since 1979, it was announced by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, [[Gordon Brown]], that the bank would be granted operational independence over monetary policy.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Sattler |first1=Thomas |last2=Brandt |first2=Patrick T. |last3=Freeman |first3=John R. |date=April 2010 |title=Democratic accountability in open economies |journal=[[Quarterly Journal of Political Science]] |volume=5 |issue=1 |pages=71–97 |citeseerx=10.1.1.503.6174 |doi=10.1561/100.00009031}}</ref> Under the terms of the [[Bank of England Act 1998]] (which came into force on 1 June 1998) the bank's [[Monetary Policy Committee (United Kingdom)|Monetary Policy Committee]] (MPC) was given sole responsibility for setting interest rates to meet the Government's [[Retail Prices Index (United Kingdom)|Retail Prices Index]] (RPI) inflation target of 2.5%.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Key Monetary Policy Dates Since 1990 |url=http://www.bankofengland.co.uk/monetarypolicy/history.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070629143630/http://www.bankofengland.co.uk/monetarypolicy/history.htm |archive-date=29 June 2007 |access-date=20 September 2007 |publisher=Bank of England |df=dmy}}</ref> The target has changed to 2% since the [[Consumer Price Index (United Kingdom)|Consumer Price Index]] (CPI) replaced the Retail Prices Index as the Treasury's inflation index.<ref>{{Cite web |date=10 December 2003 |title=Remit of the Monetary Policy Committee of the Bank of England and the New Inflation Target |url=http://www.bankofengland.co.uk/monetarypolicy/pdf/chancellorletter031210.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070926052337/http://www.bankofengland.co.uk/monetarypolicy/pdf/chancellorletter031210.pdf |archive-date=26 September 2007 |access-date=20 September 2007 |publisher=HM Treasury}}</ref> If inflation overshoots or undershoots the target by more than 1% the Governor has to write a letter to the [[Chancellor of the Exchequer]] explaining why, and how he will remedy the situation.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Monetary Policy Framework |url=http://www.bankofengland.co.uk/monetarypolicy/Pages/framework/framework.aspx |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161104091923/http://www.bankofengland.co.uk/monetarypolicy/Pages/framework/framework.aspx |archive-date=4 November 2016 |access-date=31 October 2016 |publisher=Bank of England}}</ref>

Independent central banks that adopt an inflation target are known as [[Milton Friedman|Friedmanite]] central banks. This change in Labour's politics was described by [[Robert Skidelsky|Skidelsky]] in ''The Return of the Master''<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?isbn=1610390032 |title=The Return of the Master |date=2009 |publisher=Public Affairs |isbn=978-1610390033 |access-date=19 August 2016}}</ref> as a mistake and as an adoption of the [[Rational expectations|rational expectations hypothesis]] as promulgated by [[Alan Walters]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Walters |first=A. A. |date=June 1971 |title=Consistent expectations, distributed lags and the quantity theory |journal=[[The Economic Journal]] |volume=81 |issue=322 |pages=273–281 |doi=10.2307/2230071 |jstor=2230071}}</ref> Inflation targets combined with central bank independence have been characterised as a "starve the beast" strategy creating a lack of money in the public sector.{{Citation needed|date=December 2022}}

in June 1998 responsibility for the regulation and supervision of the banking and insurance industries was transferred from the bank to the [[Financial Services Authority]]. A [[memorandum of understanding]] described the terms under which the bank, the Treasury, and the FSA would work toward the common aim of increased financial stability.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Memorandum of Understanding between the HM Treasury, the Bank of England and the Financial Services Authority |url=http://www.bankofengland.co.uk/financialstability/mou.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101203101708/http://www.bankofengland.co.uk/financialstability/mou.pdf |archive-date=3 December 2010 |access-date=10 May 2010 |df=dmy}}</ref> (Ten years later, however, after the [[2008 financial crisis]], new banking legislation transferred the responsibility for regulation and supervision of the banking and insurance industries back to the Bank of England).