The Bank of England announced Tuesday that Sarah Breeden, a longtime official of the bank, will take on the role of deputy governor, replacing Jon Cunliffe as his term draws to a close. Breeden, who was on the BoE’s Central Bank Digital Currency task force, will officially take over Cunliffe’s role on November 1, 2023. She will sit on the financial policy, monetary policy and the prudential regulation committees and play a key role in providing a link between financial stability and monetary policy, according to the press release.
Cunliffe has been deputy governor for 10 years, the maximum time allowed. During his tenure, he helped launch the U.K.’s digital pound consultation and announced in April that the bank was considering whether to limit stablecoin payments in new rules. Breeden, who has been the executive director for financial stability strategy and risk and a member of the Financial Policy Committee at the BoE, is familiar with the BoE’s CBDC work. The task force assessing central bank digital currencies was set up in 2021 to ensure a strategic approach by the U.K.
A decision on whether or not to issue a digital pound is not expected until at least 2025. The U.K. also closed a consultation in April on its proposed crypto rules and a markets bill passed into law that gave the BoE more powers to regulate crypto. The BoE is also expected to give more clarity on how it plans to regulate systemic stablecoins that could pose a threat to financial stability, this year.