BOE Appointee Vlieghe To Sell Stake in Brevan Howard

By Laurence Fletcher And Jason Douglas 

        LONDON--The newest appointee to the Bank of England's interest rate-setting panel said Friday that he will sell his stake in hedge fund firm Brevan Howard Asset Management LLP to avoid any impression of a conflict of interest in his new role.
        Gertjan Vlieghe, who was appointed to the BOE's Monetary Policy Committee by the U.K. Treasury Tuesday, in a statement denied there would have been a conflict between his new role and his stake in the firm but said he nevertheless decided to sell.
        "As of Aug. 31 I will have severed all financial and other ties with Brevan Howard. I have taken this step to avoid any mistaken impression of a conflict of interest," Mr. Vlieghe said.
        Mr. Vlieghe takes up his MPC appointment on Sept. 1.
        His decision comes after lawmakers on parliament's Treasury Committee, which scrutinizes economic policy, signaled that they intended to quiz the new BOE policy maker about the potential for a conflict of interest between his financial holdings and his role setting interest rates when he appears before them in the fall.
        The panel can't block appointments but can--and occasionally does--express concerns about candidates.
        Committee members stressed they weren't prejudging Mr. Vlieghe. Chairman Andrew Tyrie said Thursday it is important that people with relevant expertise serve on the rate-setting panel.
        Mr. Vlieghe spent seven years at the BOE before embarking on his career in financial services, serving for some of that time as economic assistant to Mervyn King, Mark Carney's predecessor as governor.
        Treasury chief George Osborne, who appointed Mr. Vlieghe to the MPC, described him as "an economist of outstanding ability."
        However, Mr. Vlieghe's past career at the BOE may yet invite questions from lawmakers about his independence, which is regarded as a key attribute for the four members of the MPC drawn from outside the central bank's ranks.
        The appointment fills a vacancy on the body created by the upcoming departure of David Miles, an economist who is near the end of his second, three-year term.
        The new arrival is likely to have a busier time than his predecessor.
        The MPC last changed its key interest rate in March 2009 and last altered its program of bond purchases in 2012. But MPC members have recently begun to discuss the appropriate timing for raising the key rate, a move likely brought closer by the U.K. economy's surprisingly strong performance in the second quarter of this year.
        Write to Laurence Fletcher at laurence.fletcher@wsj.com and Jason Douglas at jason.douglas@wsj.com
        (END) Dow Jones Newswires
        July 31, 2015 13:18 ET (17:18 GMT)

#FX
#Forex
#SaleForex
#BankOfEngland
#AppointeeVlieghe
#ToSellStake
#BrevanHoward