MPs attack Bank of England for not releasing crisis documents

31 October 2011 8:00 am | By Steve Tolley

Treasury select committee chairman Andrew Tyrie has called on the Bank of England to reconsider his request to release minutes from meetings relating to the financial crisis.

The TSC asked members of the Bank’s court at a committee session in March to provide a copy of an internal review into the Bank’s handing of the run up to the crisis as well as minutes from relevant court meetings.

The Bank has provided a copy of a 2007 review but has refused to provide the minutes that have been requested. It says revealing what was said in meetings would leave no space for private discussions in future.

Tyrie (pictured) says the refusal means the committee cannot do its job of holding institutions to account.

He says: “I hope the court will feel able to reconsider our request. The committee is not able to properly carry out its function of holding the court of the Bank to account without access to the relevant information.

“I have been disappointed at the responses we received from the court to our requests. This was the most serious financial crisis for decades and the Bank’s decision-making affected the economic future of the country. The court’s response is a reflection of the problem which the committee’s inquiry into the accountability of the Bank of England had been seeking to address.”

After March’s evidence session, then TSC member and Labour MP Chuka Ummuna told Money Marketing that Bank Governor Mervyn King has the court “under his thumb”.

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