Obituary Lord Kingsdown
FORMER governor of the Bank of England Robin Leigh-Pemberton, Lord Kingsdown, died on Sunday night at the age of 86.
Lord Kingsdown headed the Bank between 1983 and 1993, during a time of great change in the UK’s financial sector, and ushered in the UK’s regime of inflation targeting in 1992. Current governor Mark Carney offered his sympathies to Lord Kingsdown’s wife and family, adding: “He made a substantial contribution to economic policy and the financial system of the United Kingdom, both in the public and private sector. He will be fondly remembered by current and former colleagues at the Bank of England.” Towards the end of his time at the Bank, Lord Kingsdown had to deal with the UK’s sudden exit from the European Exchange Rate Mechanism, and the fallout of black Wednesday. As governor, he argued in favour of inflation targeting, as well as the independence of the Bank, which was not granted until 1997, under his successor Baron George. Before his time at the head of the Bank of England, Lord Kingsdown was chairman of the National Westminster Bank. Lord Kingsdown’s son followed him into a financial career: James Leigh-Pemberton, formerly chief executive officer of Credit Suisse’s UK arm, is now head of UK Financial Investments (UKFI), which is responsible for managing the government’s share in Lloyds and the Royal Bank of Scotland.