Rachel Reeves, the chancellor, is seeking a heavyweight outsider to run Britain’s main banking watchdog, with a senior Barclays executive expected to be among the top contenders for the job.
Sky News has learnt that the Treasury is to advertise the post of chief executive of the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA), which oversees financial services firms such as banks and insurers, within days.
One source said the recruitment process could kick off as early as next week.
The process, which will run for several months, will lead to the appointment of a successor to Sam Woods, a long-serving official who has served two terms in the role.
This weekend, it emerged that Katharine Braddick, a former senior Treasury civil servant who joined Barclays in 2022, is expected to be among the applicants for the role.
Whitehall insiders said Ms Braddick would be a strong contender for the post if she decided to apply.
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A former director-general, financial services at the Treasury, Ms Braddick has been Barclays’ group head of strategic policy and advisor to the bank’s chief executive for three-and-a-half years.
Prior to the Treasury, she worked at the Financial Services Authority and was heavily involved in political negotiations on financial services legislation relating to Brexit.
Barclays declined to comment on Ms Braddick’s behalf on Saturday.
In response to an enquiry from Sky News, a Treasury spokesperson said: “Growing the economy is the Chancellor’s number one mission.
“Every regulator has a part to play by regulating for growth not just risk.”
The chancellor is said to be keen to identify candidates from outside Britain’s existing regulatory set-up to head the PRA.
A small number of internal candidates is thought to include David Bailey, the Bank of England’s executive director for prudential policy.
Ms Reeves’s apparent desire for an outsider comes amid a wider push for…
