The Bank of England may be reduced to merely enforcing European Union regulations, according to top banking officials. Paul Tucker, the bank’s deputy governor for financial stability, Hector Sants, ceo of the Financial Services Authority and incoming deputy governor for Prudential Regulation Authority, and Andrew Bailey, the bank’s chief cashier, who will become Sants’ deputy at the PRA, made that conclusion in an interview based on an idea that appears to be gaining support in the E.U. to standardize banking rules in the region. Such a move would in effect strip the Bank of England from using any discretion in enforcing its own regulations.
