Bank of England Act 1946

Bank of England Act 1946[a]
Act of Parliament
Long titleAn Act to bring the capital stock of the Bank of England into public ownership and bring the Bank under public control, to make provision with respect to the relations between the Treasury, the Bank of England and other banks and for purposes connected with the matters aforesaid.
Citation9 & 10 Geo. 6. c. 27
Introduced byHugh Dalton (Commons)
Lord Pethick-Lawrence (Lords)
Territorial extent United Kingdom
Dates
Royal assent14 February 1946
Commencement1 March 1746[b]
Other legislation
Amends
Repeals/revokesBank of England Act 1709
Amended by
Status: Amended
Text of statute as originally enacted
Revised text of statute as amended
Text of the Bank of England Act 1946 as in force today (including any amendments) within the United Kingdom, from legislation.gov.uk.

The Bank of England Act 1946 (9 & 10 Geo. 6. c. 27) is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which came into force on 14 February 1946. The act brought all of the stock of the Bank of England into public ownership on the "appointed date" (1 March 1946). The act was belonged to a series of nationalisations by the post-war Labour government led by Clement Attlee, which also contained the Coal Industry Nationalisation Act 1946, Electricity Act 1947, Transport Act 1947.[1][2]

Provisions

The act nationalised the Bank of England without changing its internal structure.[3]

Commencement

Section 5 of the act provided that the act would come into force on a day appointed by the treasury by statutory instruments.[4]

The Bank of England (Appointed Day) Order 1946 (SR&O 1946/237) provided that the act would come into force on 1 March 1946.

Further developments

The 1946 act was largely replaced by the Bank of England Act 1998.[5]

Bank of England (Appointed Day) Order 1946[c]
Statutory Rules and Orders
CitationSR&O 1946/237
Introduced by (Commons)
Dates
Made18 February 1946
Commencement1 March 1946[d]
Other legislation
Made underBank of England Act 1946
Status: Current legislation
Text of statute as originally enacted

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Section 6.
  2. ^ Section 5. The Bank of England (Appointed Day) Order 1946.
  3. ^ Section 2.
  4. ^ Section 1.

References

  1. ^ "Bank of England Nationalised". Retrieved 18 February 2012.
  2. ^ Angel, Arthur D. (1947). "British Use of Public Corporations". Social Research. 14 (3): 321–331. ISSN 0037-783X.
  3. ^ Keegan, William (25 November 2012). "Knives out at the Bank of England as race for top job hots up". The Guardian. Retrieved 11 March 2026.
  4. ^ Britain, Great (1950). The Statutory Rules and Orders Revised: Being the Statutory Rules and Orders (other Than Those of a Local, Personal, Or Temporary Character) in Force on December 31, 1903. Vol. 3. H.M. Stationery Office. p. 29.
  5. ^ Barkham, Patrick (10 February 2000). "Setting Britain's interest rates". The Guardian. Retrieved 11 March 2026.