IMF tells UK to plug gaps in fast growing 'non-bank' sector
The Bank of England, like its counterparts in the United States and the euro zone, injected liquidity into markets as economies went into lockdown in March 2020 to fight Covid-19, creating a "dash for cash"
Britain needs to plug data and monitoring gaps in its fast growing 'non-bank' sector where liquidity during market crises could be helped by having access to government bond operations, the International Monetary Fund said on Tuesday.
Non-banks comprise hedge funds, mutual funds, pension funds, money market funds and insurance companies, which collectively now account for half of global financial activity.
Britain is a global financial hub whose non-banking sector has grown significantly, said Udaibir Saran Das, adviser and deputy director of Monetary Capital Markets at the IMF.
"That is something we have flagged with some sense of urgency to the UK authorities, that there are data gaps that need to be plugged, the perimeter of surveillance... needs to be broadened," Saran Das told a news conference on the IMF's latest assessment of Britain's economy and financial sector.
"It's no longer just the UK's problem, this thing has become very much an international issue."
The Bank of England, like its counterparts in the United States and the euro zone, injected liquidity into markets as economies went into lockdown in March 2020 to fight Covid-19, creating a "dash for cash".
