Reeves seeks outsider to run Britain's banking watchdog

Rachel Reeves, the chancellor, is seeking a heavyweight outsider to run Britain's main banking watchdog, with a senior Barclays executive expected to be among the top contenders for the job.

Sky News has learnt that the Treasury is to advertise the post of chief executive of the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA), which oversees financial services firms such as banks and insurers, within days.

One source said the recruitment process could kick off as early as next week.

The process, which will run for several months, will lead to the appointment of a successor to Sam Woods, a long-serving official who has served two terms in the role.

This weekend, it emerged that Katharine Braddick, a former senior Treasury civil servant who joined Barclays in 2022, is expected to be among the applicants for the role.

Whitehall insiders said Ms Braddick would be a strong contender for the post if she decided to apply.

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A former director-general, financial services at the Treasury, Ms Braddick has been Barclays' group head of strategic policy and advisor to the bank's chief executive for three-and-a-half years.

Prior to the Treasury, she worked at the Financial Services Authority and was heavily involved in political negotiations on financial services legislation relating to Brexit.

Barclays declined to comment on Ms Braddick's behalf on Saturday.

In response to an enquiry from Sky News, a Treasury spokesperson said: "Growing the economy is the Chancellor's number one mission.

"Every regulator has a part to play by regulating for growth not just risk."

The chancellor is said to be keen to identify candidates from outside Britain's existing regulatory set-up to head the PRA.

A small number of internal candidates is thought to include David Bailey, the Bank of England's executive director for prudential policy.

Ms Reeves's apparent desire for an outsider comes amid a wider push for Britain's economic watchdogs to remove red tape and reorient themselves towards growth-focused policies.

Earlier this year, Nikhil Rathi, chief executive of the Financial Conduct Authority, was appointed to a second term in charge following intensive discussions about the body's five-year strategy.

Since then, both the FCA and PRA have removed rules relating to diversity and inclusion in the financial sector, while the former abandoned a plan to 'name and shame' companies which were the subject of enforcement investigations.

The Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) was abolished earlier this year as part of the government's drive to reduce unnecessary regulation.

The search for the next PRA boss will get underway less than two months before the chancellor delivers an autumn Budget in which she is expected to have to raise tens of billions of pounds through additional tax rises.

Mr Woods' next move will be closely watched in the City.

He has been seen as a potential candidate to succeed Andrew Bailey when the Bank of England governor's term runs out in 2028, although it is unclear whether he covets the job.

As CEO of the PRA, Mr Woods is also a deputy governor of the Bank of England, a member of the Bank's Court of Directors, and a director of the FCA.

The chancellor has shown a willingness to recruit from outside the Treasury, appointing Bank of America investment banking veteran Jim O'Neil as second permanent secretary to the Treasury earlier this year.

Mr O'Neil had also served as the head of UK Financial Investments, the agency set up to manage taxpayers' stakes in Britain's bailed-out banks.