The Bank's examination of its own role in the manipulation of foreign exchange was carried out by a QC, Lord Grabiner, last year. He cleared the Bank's employees of any wrongdoing. The staff were cleared despite a tape recording surfacing which proved that a senior official had been alerted to the possibility of illicit Forex manipulation taking place. An MP and former banker, Jesse Norman, commissioned a new report - the one that has just been published - from another QC, Charles Bear. The Bear report looked at the way that the Bank had examined itself through Lord Grabiner's inquiry.

Narrow terms

Charles Bear concludes that the Bank gave Lord Grabiner 'narrow terms' of reference. Mr Bear also said: 'The broader question of serious professional misconduct which would be a standard part of an equivalent investigation in other spheres of life was not part of the reference.' He continued: 'The performance of the Bank’s officials at various levels has not been subject to the scrutiny in the way in which professional people are normally assessed when a serious problem comes to light.'

Transparent

Talking of the terms of reference set for Lord Grabiner, the MP said: 'But the key question is why they were drawn so narrowly by the Bank in the first place'. The new report is an embarrassment for the Bank which has just declared itself to be operating in a transparent way. Source: Financial Times