Reeves kicks off hunt for £314,000-a-year-bank watchdog chief

Rachel Reeves has fired the starting gun on the hunt for Britain's next top bank regulator - and is calling on senior financiers to enter the race as candidates.

Sky News can reveal that the chancellor has formally initiated a search for the next chief executive of the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA), which sits within the Bank of England. In a recruitment advertisement which went live on Friday, the Treasury said "senior executive experience in a major bank, insurer or other financial institution" was one of two "desirable criteria" for the eventual appointee.

The government is seeking a chief executive to serve for five years, in line with the term of the Financial Conduct Authority's (FCA) boss, Nikhil Rathi. Sam Woods, who will step down in June next year, has served for two five-year terms.

His successor will earn £314,000-a-year, according to the recruitment ad, roughly in line with Mr Woods' pay package. Last month, Sky News revealed that Ms Reeves was keen to recruit a heavyweight outsider to run the PRA, with Katharine Braddick, a senior Barclays executive who previously worked at the Treasury, among the expected contenders.

The wording of the job spec may lengthen the odds on the appointment of an internal candidate such as David Bailey, the Bank of England's executive director for prudential policy. Ms Reeves's desire for an outsider with industry experience comes amid a wider push for Britain's economic watchdogs to remove red tape and reorient themselves towards growth-focused policies.

A Treasury insider said the chancellor regarded the PRA chief executive recruitment process to be a key component of the government's drive to jumpstart economic growth. Next month, she will present her Budget, a fiscal event on which the government's economic credibility is likely to rest.

Candidates to replace Mr Woods are expected to be interviewed in the new year, with an appointment likely by the spring. Mr Woods has been viewed as a potential candidate to succeed Andrew Bailey when the Bank of England governor's term runs out in 2028, although it is unclear whether he covets the job.

As CEO of the PRA, Mr Woods is also a deputy governor of the Bank of England, a member of the Bank's Court of Directors, and a director of the FCA. The chancellor has already shown a willingness to recruit outsiders to senior roles at the Treasury, appointing Bank of America investment banking veteran Jim O'Neil as second permanent secretary to the Treasury earlier this year.

Mr O'Neil had also served as the head of UK Financial Investments, the agency set up to manage taxpayers' stakes in Britain's bailed-out banks. The Treasury declined to comment further..