Carney named new Bank Of England Governor - RTE.ie

Aged just 47, the marathon runner and former investment banker will keep his position as head of the Financial Stability Board, the global body tasked with reforming a still creaking world financial system, after he moves to London.

"I'm not without ties to the United Kingdom," Carney told an Ottawa news conference minutes after the announcement. "My wife is a British and Canadian national, my children are both. I lived there for a decade".

"Obviously I think that I can play a constructive role as the next governor in relaunching this institution with its new responsibilities, contributing to price stability, to financial stability and to ensuring that the rebalancing of the UK economy -- which is underway -- is seen through over the course of the next five years."

Carney worked for Goldman Sachs as an investment banker for 13 years in London, Tokyo, New York and Toronto before moving to the Canadian finance ministry and then, at the age of 43, to the top job at the Bank of Canada.

He heads a well-respected central bank that helped make Canada's recession one of the weakest in the rich country group. No Canadian bank needed government help during the world financial crisis of 2008.

Carney took over at the Financial Stability Board (FSB) at a time when bankers were pushing back against tougher capital requirements designed to strengthen financial institutions so taxpayers will not have to rescue them in a future crisis.

The FSB brings together G20 central bankers, finance ministers and regulators to craft and coordinate financial regulation.

As head of the Bank of Canada, Carney has made it clear that despite his Goldman Sachs background, or perhaps because of it, he believes banks have acted in questionable ways and he is ready to confront them.

Carney completely overhauled the senior ranks of the bank after he took the job, replacing four of five deputy governors who decide interest rates with him. On paper, decisions are made by consensus but privately, officials have reportedly joked that they always "agree" with their boss.