Speeches by Coghlan.

“Before I turn to Mr Jenkins, am I reflecting you correctly if I say that, in effect, we are saying that UK banks have a higher risk tolerance than EU and US banks in terms of how they appear on their balance sheets? Therefore, there is maybe a case for having stronger leverage ratios to reduce that behaviour.”

“Let me flip that on its head. You are effectively saying that UK banks have higher risk tolerance than EU and US banks.”

“If you reduce your minimum capital ratios, it is impossible to say how the banks would react, but they would likely increase their—”

“They are much closer to leverage ratios.”

“Is the bigger picture not that the banks are trying to weaken the leverage ratios? They are trying to find ways to do that. In their view, the minimum leverage ratios are too high. Would a cleaner way to address this issue not just to either say you have your leverage ratios correct, in your opinion, or slightly tweak …”

“Mr Woods, I want to come back briefly to Mr Glen’s points around sovereign debt. I take your argument on the fact that, even though this is, in effect, close to a risk-free debt that we are talking about, you are still getting losses on the bond markets. Would the Bank say that the fact we have mark-to-market accountin…”

“Just on access to funding, of course part of the problem is the supply of finance, but to what extent is it a problem that the investment ecosystem is not there? The clustering effect you have in Silicon Valley is not in the UK, and the infrastructure is not, either. Maybe it is not so much about the supply of finance;…”

“On the potential crisis risk, do you see the collapse of First Brands and Tricolor in the US as isolated, or could there be wider systemic problems for US companies?”

“Ms Oakes, on your point there you said you are actually seeing productivity gains coming in as you are seeing the earnings coming in as well, as Mr Hall said. Do you have to differentiate between this and the dotcom bubble where, of course, the earnings were not coming in?”

“I am glad to be so popular today. Ms Oakes, talking about the scenario the Governor is outlining, could we be looking at a basket of currencies potentially being reserves? If so, could sterling be more widely used as a reserve currency, and could that actually benefit UK debt yields?”

“Sterling was the world’s reserve currency for decades, of course, after the UK stopped being the world’s dominant economic power. Would you see a similar scenario for the US in terms of the reserve currency?”

“Would you see the change in the behaviour of the US dollar that Mr Hall outlines as perhaps the biggest, or most concerning, indicator that we are shifting away from the US as a reserve currency, in terms of the dollar is acting less as a safe haven asset in times of crisis?”

“Yes, so I was not asking about that.”

“I am sorry, but with respect, a reduction in a dividend payment would have no impact on reserves. I understand your point that it would impact their share prices, but share prices have rocketed in recent years, and bank customers are also taxpayers.”

“I was not talking about not paying interest on reserves.”

“Governor, you recently raised concerns about the level of hedge fund borrowing in the UK gilt markets and a small number of hedge funds. Could you just briefly outline your concerns, and how much concern should we have in this area?”

“Just following up on that, it is interesting that the Government chose not to tax the banks’ profits on QT in the Budget. I would speculate that one of the reasons might be lobbying by the banks about the risk to financial stability and the impact on reserves. But I saw that in 2024, the top four UK banks paid over £40…”

“Foreign interference in British politics is of enormous concern to most Members, following the conviction of Reform politician Nathan Gill, who betrayed our country for a genocidal Russian dictator. In response, the Government announced the Rycroft review to investigate foreign interference, including by China. Will th…”

“There have been many calls across the Chamber for sanctions and the proscription of the IRGC, which I fully support. I think we need to be honest and admit that those measures are unlikely to save the lives of protesters who are under a regime fearing for its survival, but I point out that the drone strike in 2020 agai…”

“Exactly two weeks ago, the Foreign Secretary told me that I was quite wrong to describe Donald Trump as a threat to liberal democracy. Since then, we have seen the horrifying shooting of Renee Good, trumped-up charges against the chair of the Federal Reserve, and direct threats to Denmark and this country. I understand…”