* Financial Times says Carney approached informally
* Bank of Canada not available to comment
April 17 (Reuters) – Canada’s top central banker, Mark
Carney, has informally been approached as a potential candidate
to replace Mervyn King as head of the Bank of England, the
Financial Times reported on Tuesday.
Carney was approached by a member of the Bank of England’s
court, the largely non-executive body that oversees its
activities, the paper said. The story cited three people
involved in the process but did not name them.
The Bank of Canada was not immediately available to comment.
Carney took the helm at the Bank of Canada in 2008 and his
mandate ends in 2015. He became chair of the Financial Stability
Board, the body tasked with implementing global financial
reforms, in November last year.
Naming an outsider to head the British central bank would be
highly unusual and would break with tradition. Carney is a
Canadian, but is married to a British woman, lived in London at
one point during his Goldman Sachs career and is said to
be an admirer of the BoE’s King.
Carney is scheduled to hold a press conference on Wednesday
at 11:15 a.m. (15:15 GMT) following the release of the central
bank’s quarterly Monetary Policy Report.
