Subject to achieving the target, the MPC is also required to support the Government’s economic policy objective, currently strong, sustainable and balanced growth. Accountability Under what Mervyn King termed constrained discretion, the Bank takes its orders from the remit and is accountable to Parliament and the people for its performance. Their expectations certainly have changed since Montagu Norman justified his decisions to a compliant predecessor of the TSC by appealing opaquely to his “instincts.” Not a response I’ve dared to venture during my thirty odd parliamentary testimonies. More seriously, the need for the Bank to be open and accountable is greater than ever, not only because of the growing distrust of institutions and the ‘experts’ who reside within them, but also because better public understanding makes our policies more effective. That’s why the Bank has increased dramatically the scale and quality of its outreach. We now publish all relevant information for each policy decision on the day it is released. We disclose the key judgments underlying our forecasts and account for differences when they occur. Leveraging our network of 12 regional agencies, we meet with thousands of businesses every year, discuss with the tens of thousands of people who attend our town halls and Public Forums, and engage with the hundreds of thousands more through social media. Performance and Lessons Learned The gains from independence have been enormous. In the two decades that followed independence, inflation averaged just under 2% compared with over 6% in the preceding two. It’s been one-fifth as volatile.

However, unlike regulations or supervisory standards, compliance with the best practice standards developed by our committees is not mandatory for the broader market. Furthermore, there may be instances where implementation may vary given the diversity of entities in the market and the different profiles of market engagement. This is particularly relevant for the global FX market, with its range of market participants. 21 Central banks play an important role in convening industry stakeholders to develop high standards of behavior that promote fairness and integrity, and in pushing the industry to affirm them. Nonetheless, central banks are not acting as regulators when they sponsor these committees, even when they have relevant regulatory powers. Since best practice standards that are articulated by the committees that we work with are not, in and of themselves, binding, promoting their adoption is both challenging and important. We work on a number of fronts in this effort. We strive to engage a wide diversity  18  See “The Introduction of the TMPG Fails Charge for U.S. Treasury Securities” for more information. 19  The New York Fed has organized workshops and conferences on reforming culture in the financial services industry. Additionally, several executives have spoken publicly on the topic. See here for more detail. 20  The G30, the Basel Committee, the European Systemic Risk Board, and the FSB have issued papers on culture, governance, and misconduct risk. The Bank of England’s Fair and Effective Markets Review called for higher conduct standards for the fixed income markets.