A new report from the National Audit Office has identified dozens of major compliance breaches at the Bank of England.

The central bank has faced criticism in recent years following a number of major scandals including the 2017 resignation of deputy governor Charlotte Hogg for failing to declare her brother’s employment at Barclays, and a 2019 security breach that gave hedge funds early access to audio feeds of its press conferences.

The report notes that the BoE has made good progress in overhauling its approach to managing non-financial risks following the two high profile incidents, but the current number of compliance breaches “currently stands above what the Bank considers an acceptable level.”

In total there were 628 minor and 28 major compliance breaches of staff policies in the year to August 2023, most of which were self-reported. These minor breaches can refer to an employee’s failure to get advanced approval for personal transactions or emails being sent to the wrong address.

This is significantly higher than the 584 minor and 19 major breaches in the previous year.

The report notes that the BoE has also acted to promote and embed a culture of risk awareness and raising concerns among its staff, including simplifying language within key internal documents, including to its annual code of conduct. However, less than two-thirds of the bank’s 2023 staff felt they were free to speak their mind without fear of negative consequences and the bank recognises it will take time to fully embed its approach.

Commenting on the report, NAO head Greg Davies said: “The Bank of England has made good progress in developing new and improved systems to understand and manage compliance risks.

“As it takes forward this work, the Bank should ensure it continues to improve the quality and consistency of its risk information, and awareness and confidence among staff to raise concerns.”

Reacting, David Roberts, the chair of the Court of the Bank of England, said that the BoE was “committed to promoting the highest standards of integrity and ethics and will carefully consider the NAO’s recommendations”.

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