FSA Head Won't Rule Himself Out Of Bank of England Job

Financial Services Authority Chairman Adair Turner gave his first indication that he is interested in succeeding Bank of England Governor Mervyn King as he laid out proposals to reshape London’s finance industry.

'I would obviously not rule myself out' of consideration for the BOE post, Turner, 56, said in an interview in London Tuesday. 'It is something I’ll have to think about when the time comes'. Turner, who has been chairman of the FSA since 2008, also laid out ideas to reform banking culture and rebuild trust in financial services following the Libor scandal which led to the resignation of Barclays Plc (BARC)’s Robert Diamond.

Bank executives face 'the challenge of setting clearly from the top a culture which tells people that there are things they shouldn’t do, even if they are legal, even if they are profitable and even if it is highly likely that the supervisor will never spot them', Turner said in an interview with Bloomberg Television.

Diamond stepped down as chief executive officer of Barclays on July 3rd following the bank’s admission that it submitted false Libor information to benefit derivatives trades and bolster its own positions. Barclays, Britain’s second-biggest lender by assets, was fined a record $450m in U.K. and U.S. probes last month.

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Turner Stakes Claim for BOE Helm as Bank Culture Reform Sought