Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey has stated he would have postponed a meeting with Reform UK leader Nigel Farage last autumn if the £5 million gift from a crypto billionaire had been under investigation at the time. The donation, from Thailand-based investor Christopher Harborne, was revealed by the Guardian in April, months after the September meeting.
Bailey's Stance on the Meeting
Bailey said he does not regret meeting Farage to discuss the Bank's plans for cryptocurrency regulation. However, he acknowledged that if the central bank had known about the subsequent parliamentary inquiry into the undisclosed gift, he might have considered delaying the meeting. Harborne, who has provided two-thirds of Reform UK's funding, has made a large part of his estimated £18 billion fortune from crypto.
In an interview with the Guardian, Bailey remarked: “Whether I would have then said: ‘Well, I think we’d better wait until the investigation is done before we have the meeting’ – I think that would be a judgment we would have taken at the time. It would have been a material fact, certainly, in our judgment.”
Farage's Demands and Bank's Response
Farage used the meeting to demand that the Bank of England drop plans for a state-issued rival to Tether's stablecoin. Stablecoins are cryptocurrencies pegged to assets like the US dollar. Farage also urged Bailey to abandon a cap on how many stablecoins individuals could own, which was later dropped after a consultation. Bailey defended the changes, stating it was easier to set caps on total issuance rather than policing individual holdings.
Bailey described the encounter as a “perfectly polite exchange of views” but noted Farage's clear stance against what he perceives as “the establishment.” Bailey added, “His argument, as I interpreted it, is that there is ‘an establishment’ and he presumably thinks that we’re part of it.”
No Discussion on Latest Rules
Bailey confirmed he did not discuss the Bank's latest rules on stablecoins like Tether with Farage. “I don’t know where Nigel Farage is on that, or where we have got to now … I haven’t talked to him about it,” he said. Bailey also noted the irony of critics who previously called the Bank “dinosaurs” now praising its innovation.
Farage has been reported to the standards commissioner over potential lobbying violations. However, Bailey emphasized the controversy would not change how the Bank conducts meetings with political figures, which it does regularly without “favouritism.” He stressed the importance of confidentiality for market-sensitive discussions, stating, “People come in here and tell me and my colleagues things which are very market-sensitive. And we have a degree of confidentiality around it.”
Public Authority Responsibility
Bailey concluded that the Bank has a responsibility to be open to party leaders in the Westminster system. “I think that’s fine. I think we must do that,” he said.
