(Bloomberg) -- John Kingman is vying to replace Mark Carney as Bank of England governor, according to the Daily Mail.
Kingman, currently chairman of Legal and General Plc, has emerged as the top choice in the Treasury to take the job next year, the newspaper reported, without saying where it got the information. BOE Deputy Governor Jon Cunliffe is another preferred candidate, the Mail said, with Whitehall experience seen as an asset by the Treasury.
A spokesman for the Treasury declined to comment when contacted by Bloomberg.
The process of finding a new governor for the 325-year-old central bank has been thrown wide open since Boris Johnson took over as prime minister last month, and the decision is now in the hands of new Chancellor of the Exchequer Sajid Javid, rather than his predecessor Philip Hammond, who posted the job advert.
Interviews for the role ended by July 31, and Financial Conduct Authority chief Andrew Bailey, who led the race in Bloomberg’s latest poll of economists, lacks support within the Treasury, the Mail reported. Meanwhile Gerard Lyons, a former adviser to Johnson who was the biggest gainer that survey, was interviewed but not shortlisted for the position, the newspaper said.
Read More: Here are the most-likely nominees, based on a Bloomberg survey of economists
Javid could still also look beyond the shortlist, and try to persuade an international candidate to take the role, the Mail said. That could include former Reserve Bank of India governor Raghuram Rajan, who has indicated he didn’t apply, partly as a result of the political challenges posed by Brexit.