Charlotte Hogg has admitted she didn’t declare that her brother Quintin works for Barclays, and MPs are not happy
Latest: BoE deputy governor admits breaching bank code
Treasury committee concerned
Labour MP: Hogg has broken standards of public life
Bank top brass: She’s a superb public servant
1.28pm GMT
Newsflash: John Mann MP has declare that Charlotte Hogg’s position as deputy governor is “now untenable”, following her admission that she didn’t declare that her brother hold a senior role in Barclays’ strategy team.
“It is simply incredible that such a senior person at the Bank of England has behaved in such in this manner. Last week Charlotte Hogg proudly told this committee that she actually wrote the bank’s code of conduct which she has now admitted to repeatedly breaking it.”
“Not only has she compromised her current position and the Bank of England itself but more importantly she has failed under the key principles of the Nolan standards in public life and she has no excuse for doing so.”
1.21pm GMT
You can watch the entire Treasury Committee hearing about Charlotte Hogg’s non-declaration here.
1.20pm GMT
Andrew Tyrie wraps up the hearing by saying that we are “looking at a mistake, a series of mistakes”.
We need to examine if the response from the bank has been proportionate.
1.14pm GMT
Charlotte Hogg has also officially recorded her family links to the Hoare family -- who created Britain’s oldest private bank, Habgood says.
1.09pm GMT
Q: Have any other senior Bank of England staff updated their declarations under the code of conduct since Charlotte Hogg’s omission came to light?
Anthony Habgood says that several people have, yes, including one who has added that his daughter is a political journalist.
1.01pm GMT
Deputy court chairman Bradley Fried now hits back at the suggestion that Charlotte Hogg’s conduct has fallen below acceptable standards.
12.47pm GMT
Scottish Nationalist Party MP George Kerevan reads out the Bank’s code of conduct.
Q: The code of conduct on interests says that “living within our code is not simply about observing the letter of the policies referred to. We aspire to set an example of the best in public service.”
She has omitted something that she should not have omitted, that is important, so she has not lived up to that code.
12.38pm GMT
Tory MP Kit Malthouse is concerned that the Bank of England doesn’t know exactly what Quintin Hogg does at Barclays.
He could even be targeted with handling Barclay’s strategy towards the Bank of England, Malthouse suggests.
12.36pm GMT
Now the committee ask about social ties between the top brass at the Bank of England.
Court chairman Anthony Habgood insists that he’s had no social interaction with Charlotte Hogg -- beyond one trip to “something to do with ballet for youthful people”.
I didn’t know her until just before I came to the bank.
I know her mother better than I know her because she’s been chairman of various things when I’ve been chairman of various things.
12.27pm GMT
Fried adds:
Anthony [Habgood]and I are fans of Charlotte. We think she’s a distinctive professional.
12.25pm GMT
Conservative MP Kit Malthouse wants to know what the Court of the Bank of England (the board of the central bank) is going to do about Hogg’s breach of the code.
Deputy chairman Bradley Fried says the situation will be discussed.
Clearly we have an issue now around optics. We hope that it can be resolved.
It’s not an issue how we feel individually. We will discuss it in full Court.
12.19pm GMT
Earlier in this hearing, deputy court chairman Bradley Fried said Hogg had committed an “unwillful act of omission.”
Bloomberg has the details:
“I definitely don’t believe it’s a hanging offence,” Fried told Parliament Tuesday.
“It’s terribly unfortunate. It warrants grumpiness.”
Scandal, british-stylehttps://t.co/VklCR2PVz1 by @fergalob pic.twitter.com/Uh6yIRI9vX
12.17pm GMT
12.16pm GMT
Anthony Habgood says he has discussed the situation with governor Mark Carney -- apparently it was a “revelation” to Carney that Charlotte Hogg hadn’t declared her brother’s role at Barclays.
12.13pm GMT
Committee chairman Andrew Tyrie wants more answers from BoE chairman Anthony Habgood.
Q: How many breaches of the Bank’s code of conduct are there?
12.00pm GMT
Labour MP John Mann is now laying into the Bank of England’s top brass -- comparing Charlotte Hogg’s conduct to MPs who were jailed in the expenses scandal.
The standards of public life are about ethics and public responsibility, Mann insists.
She’s broken the standards in public life....and you’ve done nothing about it....
You must see that the independence of the Court is being brought into question.
The standard is broken, that is correct.
11.49am GMT
The Treasury Committee are laying into the Bank of England’s top brass over Charlotte Hogg’s failure to declare that her brother works for Barclays.
Jacob Rees-Mogg (who knows a thing or two about high society), is challenging the idea that there hasn’t been a conflict of interest, actual or potential.
What’s worrying me is that the bank and the Court is pretty complacent about this.
It can’t have been wrong because we wouldn’t have behaved like that.
11.28am GMT
Now this is awkward....
During my appointment hearing on 28 February 2017,1 was asked by you and other members of the Committee about my brother’s role as Director, Group Strategy at Barclays Bank pic.
Following my hearing, I checked the Bank’s records of the interests and relationships that I had declared prior to joining the Bank in July 2013 and subsequently. I had not formally declared my brother’s role at Barclays Bank pic to the Bank. The first time that I formally outlined my brother’s role was when I noted it in the questionnaire which I submitted to the Committee in advance of my recent hearing.
10.52am GMT
Economics blogger Tim Worstall has a good take on the German factory orders decline, on Forbes.
Here’s a flavour:
Reading too much into just the one month’s numbers is not a sensible thing to be doing so the answer to that headline question, as Betteridge’s Law says it should be, is probably no. However, when matters do turn against the German economy this is the sort of thing that we would expect to see.
We all know, or at least we all should know, that the German economy is rather different from those of other advanced countries. It has about double the manufacturing of those others and that manufacturing is rather more concentrated into durable goods than most others.
Are The Wheels Coming Off The German Bus? Factory Orders Down 7.4% In One Month, Worst Since Crash https://t.co/WG9TRi2OR1
10.38am GMT
It’s a bad morning for hundreds of workers at Budgens stores across the country.
“The business is performing very strongly.”
10.20am GMT
Breaking: The OECD thinktank has just become the latest organisation to admit that it overestimated the impact of the Brexit vote on the UK economy.
The Paris-based group now expects Britain’s GDP to rise by 1.6% this year, up from 1.2% previously.
The new forecasts envisage the UK economy performing in line with the eurozone economy, where GDP is also expected to expand by 1.6% in 2017. The US economy, helped in part by an expected rise in spending under Donald Trump’s administration, is forecast to grow 2.4% this year.
OECD upgrades UK outlook but warns of inflation biting, and sees vulnerabilities in global economy https://t.co/nvjirpL43g
10.07am GMT
The news that UK house price growth has hit its lowest level since July 2013 has disappointed some economists.
Howard Archer of IHS Global Insight predicts that the market will be muted in 2017:
February’s slight rise in house prices reported by the Halifax fuels our belief that house price gains over 2017 will be no more than 3% and could well be less. Weakening consumer fundamentals, likely mounting caution over making major spending decisions, and elevated house price to earnings ratios are likely to weigh down on house prices. However, a shortage of supply is likely to put a hard floor under prices.
“Halifax’s latest data reflects the cautious nature of the market; with value sensitive buyers remaining committed to their moving plans, but only at the right price.
“It’s too soon to make a call on whether the property market is cooling off. While it’s possible this is a sign of things to come demand is still so high and supply so lacking so I can’t see a dramatic slump on the horizon quite yet.
“Affordability is a major issue and if rising inflation means households are strapped for cash getting onto or moving up the ladder will be more difficult and that will impact prices. The changes to tax on rental properties have also meant more would-be landlords are holding back from buying too which has an effect.
“Despite continuing uncertainty, a buoyant jobs market, record low interest rates and the imbalance between high demand for homes and a severe shortage in supply continue to put upward pressure on prices.
9.32am GMT
Britain’s house market appears to be weakening, with prices growing at their weakest rate in over three years.
“A sustained period of house price growth in excess of pay rises has made it increasingly difficult for many to purchase a home.
This development, together with signs of reduced momentum in the jobs market and squeezed consumer spending power, is expected to curb house price growth during 2017.”
House price inflation drops to 5.1pc in Feb - lowest annual rate in four years. Halifax figs: pic.twitter.com/WbhPJyn1Wk
9.05am GMT
These factory orders numbers are rather weaker than other German data, points out Bloomberg:
Ifo’s business climate index improved in February amid strong activity in manufacturing and services, and unemployment continued to decline.
8.54am GMT
Even if you strip out orders for expensive transport equipment, German factories had a bad January:
The German orders series you should be looking at (excluding big ticket items): a sharp correction, albeit a one-off? pic.twitter.com/ckm1EavP1W
8.38am GMT
Financial analysts are concerned by the scale of the drop in German factory orders at the start of 2017.
Carsten Brzeski at ING says the 7.4% slide is “almost unprecedented”,
“Today’s disappointing data is also a good reminder that the German industry is having more problems returning to full speed than buoyant sentiment indicators have been suggesting”.
Bad news: German factory orders plummeted by 7.4% MoM in January.
Worse: domestic orders for capital goods -16.8% MoM (after +14.3%).
Germany #FactoryOrders in January "Horrible, but too volatile in m/m guise to many any firm conclusions." @ClausVistesen #PantheonMacro
Yet no signs of a global manufacturing upswing if we look at German and Swedish data. Order intakes in Germany down 7% m/m in January pic.twitter.com/areoaTPEov
8.16am GMT
Germany’s manufacturing sector has suffered a surprisingly sharp fall in orders, raising concerns that its economy may not be as robust as thought.
Orders for German factory goods plunged by 7.4% in January, compared to December.
German 'Factory Orders' slump in January; ;largest month-on-month decline since January 2009 . . . pic.twitter.com/VS5Yu95B0H
“The weak start to the year should be manageable.
Business confidence in manufacturing is significantly brighter than the long-term average, so that a revival in manufacturing can still be expected.”
7.56am GMT
Good morning, and welcome to our rolling coverage of the world economy, the financial markets, the eurozone and business.
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“Tougher times are expected ahead. The impact of inflation on consumer spending will add further intensity to an already fiercely competitive environment in which the ability to adapt and innovate will be key to survival.”
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