Carolyn Wilkins, the former second-in-command at the Bank of Canada, has been appointed to the Bank of England committee that oversees financial stability in Britain.
Ms. Wilkins, who left the Bank of Canada in December, will join the 13-member Financial Policy Committee as a part-time external member, Britain’s Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rishi Sunak, announced Thursday.
The committee, which includes the Bank of England governor and four deputy governors, meets four times a year to discuss risks to the country’s financial system and make recommendations on improving stability. It was established in 2013 in the wake of the global financial crisis, and is responsible for macroprudential policy in Britain.
Ms. Wilkins had a 20-year career with the Bank of Canada, and was appointed senior deputy governor in 2014, becoming the highest-ranking woman in the history of the central bank. Many in the financial community had tipped her to succeed Stephen Poloz as bank governor upon his departure last June, but the role went to Tiff Macklem, another former senior deputy governor.
Over her career, Ms. Wilkins helped craft the bank’s response to the 2008-09 financial crisis and, more recently, the market turmoil caused by COVID-19. She was the architect of the bank’s extraordinary moves last March and April to stabilize markets by buying huge amounts of financial assets and flooding the banking system with liquidity.
“Her senior leadership positions at the Bank of Canada, most recently helping drive the bank’s response to the COVID-19 crisis, and extensive knowledge of the global financial system, means she will bring fresh analysis and valuable input to the committee’s deliberations,” said Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey in a statement.
Her three-year term with the Financial Policy Committee begins on June, 21. She was also appointed to the board of Intact Financial Corp. in February.
Ms. Wilkins wrote in a social-media post on Thursday that she was “thrilled” to join the committee: “It’s job is consequential to families and businesses,” she wrote.
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