Andrew Bailey ‘fell asleep’ during meeting over pensions scandal

The governor of the Bank of England has been accused of falling asleep in meetings about a serious pensions mis-selling scandal. 

Andrew Bailey, who was then boss of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), allegedly nodded off in 2019 discussions with advocates for the victims of the British Steel Pension Scheme (BSPS) debacle. 

Thousands of steelworkers were mis-sold pensions, and have been fighting for millions of pounds in compensation. But Al Rush, a financial adviser who represents BSPS members and attended the 2019 meeting, said the FCA boss ‘just kept falling asleep’. 

Philippa Hann, a solicitor with law firm Clarke Willmott, told the FT ‘there were a number of times when his [Bailey] head dropped and he had his eyes closed and he appeared to be sleeping’. 

A spokesman for Bailey said: ‘Andrew devoted a huge amount of time to BSPS, ordering a major investigation into the matter by the FCA. He wholly and categorically rejects any suggestion that he did not take seriously the issues raised by those affected.’