Bank needs more diversity to avoid future financial crises, says Bailey

The Bank of England might have been able to better protect Britain the financial crisis coming if it employed more women and ethnic minorities, Andrew Bailey has said.

Mr Bailey suggested that the City’s overwhelmingly white, male culture may have encouraged a culture of risk-taking that sparked the Great Recession 13 years ago.

The Governor called for the central bank to become more diverse to “reflect the whole society we serve” following criticism over the lack of women and minorities in top jobs. He added: “I don’t want to work in a place that is full of people like me”.

Mr Bailey said: “As a public institution, we need to represent the diversity of the country in what we look like, who we talk to and the impact of our decisions. But, just as importantly, it helps us achieve our objectives.

“Improved cognitive diversity helps make for better decision making. The lack of such diversity has been highlighted as one important factor in the bank and regulatory failures of 2008.

“Only looking at established financial assets risks ignoring the impact of innovation. And speaking only to contacts of similar backgrounds could mean missing different perspectives on potential risks to consensus views.”