This text examines the whole of the regulatory framework affecting UK banking, including detailed discussion of the Bank of England's role as financial regulator, its policies and the legal limit of its powers.;Special attention is given to the opportunities for challenging the regulatory decisions of the Bank through appeals, judicial review proceedings or actions for damages. The Bank's potential civil liability for wrongful regulatory decisions and questions of political and parliamentary accountability are all considered.;The book brings together and interrelates all the different levels of regulation which affect UK banking - European and UK legal rules and Bank of England regulatory policies - taking full account of their different legal nature and force, and also their hierarchical relationship.;It covers: the evolution of UK banking regulation, from the formally unregulated days pre-1979 to 1996, including the Bank of England Act 1946, the 1979 Banking Act, and EC harmonization of banking regulation; authorization and supervision under the Banking Act 1987, including the Bank's role in supervision and enforcement; the Bank's policy pronouncements on prudential matters affecting the exercise of its statutory powers; and the regulatory activities of the Bank in areas not covered by the Banking Act, including the work of the FSA.;In covering the subject, the book analyzes a number of issues in some depth, for example: the substantive content of prudential policies, in particular those setting minimum financial requirements, such as solvency, liquidity and large exposure rule; how, in appropriate circumstances, plaintiffs may be able to recover damages under headings of liability, such as international torts and serious breaches of certain provisions of EC law; and the effect of the non-transparency and secrecy surrounding the Bank's individual regulatory assessments and decisions on public accountability and control over the operation of regulatory policy.