Parliamentary bank probe to retain Welby
A FORMER City oil executive widely tipped to be unveiled as the new Archbishop of Canterbury this morning is expected to keep his position on a Parliamentary commission into banking standards.
Bishop of Durham Reverend Justin Welby, an Old Etonian who currently helps scrutinise banking standards as part of his role as a member of the House of Lords, is expected to take his seat at an evidence session for the commission on Monday, when the panel will take evidence from Sir John Vickers, a Commission spokesman confirmed to City A.M. last night.
Reverend Welby, who worked in corporate finance for two oil companies in both London and Paris for eleven years, is set to be announced as the leader of the world’s 80m Anglicans by Downing Street this morning.
Welby is set to succeed incumbent Archbishop Rowan Williams when he steps down on 31 December.
The commission is expected to publish its first report on its scrutiny of the banking reform bill on 18 December.
Yesterday, chairman of the Parliamentary Commission on Banking Standards Andrew Tyrie MP backed Welby to stay on in the role, saying he was making an “outstanding contribution”.
The commission, which was set up by chancellor George Osborne this summer, appointed Welby to the post to help scrutinise the banking sector alongside other members of the House of Lords.
Reverend Welby, who worked for French oil giant Elf in Paris for five years before moving to FTSE listed firm Enterprise Oil for a further six years, is a vociferous critic of banking failures during the financial crisis.
Speaking last month, Welby said pre-2008 financial markets were “exponents of anarchy” and financial services “served nothing”.
“They involved wild and frantic activity, often by exceptionally intelligent people, working very long hours, but they had no socially useful purpose,” he said.
The Bishop was ordained as deacon in 1992 with a curacy in Nuneaton before moving to become the Dean of Liverpool in 2007.