With just days left until she leaves the Bank of England, Dame Minouche Shafik is implementing her exit plan. She’s had her leaving party, delivered her valedictory speech on “experts” – inspired by an early ambition of becoming a journalist and the current attacks on “fake news” – and her office is almost empty. Photos of her family still adorn the room, as well as mementos from her time at the International Monetary Fund, including a picture with Barack Obama, former US president, and IMF managing director Christine Lagarde at a meeting on the eurozone crisis. She’s also already bought a leaving gift for her staff: she pulls open one of the drawers behind her desk to reveal three large bags stuffed with coins and banknotes – all made of chocolate of course. “No plastic fiver yet,” she smiles. “Chocolate” is one of the words printed on the Bank’s leaving gift to her – a giant plaque filled with hundred of words used in her speeches, the memos she sent and messages published on the Bank’s internal website.
It would be a "huge mistake" to diminish the scope of the UK's financial reforms in favour of transforming the UK into a low-tax, low-regulation economy, according to Dame Minouche Safik, the Bank of England's deputy governor for markets and banking. In her final interview before leaving the bank, Shafik said that loosening regulations on the UK's financial sector would sow the seeds of another financial crisis. Shafik will leave her position later this year to become the first female director of the London School of Economics.