and averting a cash crunch that could have paralysed Britain’s startup sector.
It was no surprise, then, that he was identified as a rising star when he joined the PRA – which emerged from the ashes of the discredited Financial Services Authority – in 2013. Three years later, Woods, whom colleagues describe as a “steel fist in a very charming velvet glove” replaced Andrew Bailey, now the Bank of England’s governor, as chief executive of the PRA.
Evidence for this comes, in part, from stress tests, where lenders prove they can survive and keep lending through a major market downturn.only measured banks against interest rates of 6%. While that scenario also involved a hypothetical recession, a 30% drop in house prices and 8.5% unemployment, the current base rate of 5.25% is a bit close for comfort.
Imagine Westminster under water – a really extreme thing that made policy shift in a very dramatic way,” he saysThe results could leave the door open for requirements that make it more expensive to lend or offer services to oil companies and carbon-heavy industries.