A second Goldman Sachs candidate has entered the running to replace Bank of England (BOE) Governor Mervyn King when he steps down in June 2013. Jim O’Neill, asset management chairman at Goldman, was mentioned by the Sunday Times as a possible successor to King, joining the previously mentioned possibilities Gus O’Donnell, the former U.K. civil service chief, and Mark Carney, also formerly of Goldman.
Bloomberg reported Sunday that O’Neill might already have been approached by U.K. Treasury officials months ago, citing the Times as the source of its information. King is approaching the end of the second of the two five-year terms he is allowed to serve as BOE governor.
In September 2007, O’Neill was asked in a Bloomberg interview whether he was interested in the top slot. At the time he said he couldn’t imagine “anyone would be daft enough to offer it to me.” Apparently that is no longer true, although O’Neill declined to comment for the current report.
George Osborne, chancellor of the exchequer, said through a Treasury spokesman that the process to select King’s replacement had not yet begun and would not start till fall.