A Bank of England lifer, who celebrated his 30th anniversary as an employee at the end of May last year, Bailey certainly brings gravitas to the role.
He also brings a level of continuity and inside knowledge that would have been impossible to replicate by a suitable candidate from another regulator – he is already on the FCA board and has been head of the of the Prudential Regulation Authority since it was set up in 2013.
Both qualities are likely to be welcomed by the markets after what can charitably be described as a period of flux at the regulator.
Indeed, since Martin Wheatley stepped down from the role after his board seat was not renewed by Chancellor of the Exchequor, George Osborne, last year, that in and of itself a bad sign, the regulator seems to have lurched from poor headline to poor headline, culminating in a badly communicated decision to stop work on a thematic review into bank culture.
As Treasury Select Committee member Mark Garnier pointed out during a rather feisty hearing into the matter last week, recent events seemed to have created a narrative “of an organisation that is not even punching at its weight when it comes to the regulation of the financial system.”
