Mark Carney caught by prankster who embarrassed Barclays

Mark Carney has been caught out by the same email prankster who embarrassed embattled Barclays boss Jes Staley two weeks ago.

In an email exchange posted on Twitter, the Bank of England governor appeared to be duped by messages from a Hotmail account purported to belong to Anthony Habgood, who chairs the bank's court, its equivalent of a board of directors.

The messages saw Carney "tentatively" accept an invitation to a summer drinks reception, says The Guardian, and share a joke about the supposed drinking habits of one of his predecessors after the prankster refers to the image of Jane Austin on the new £10 note, writing that her "face resembles that of someone who's had a 'bracing Martini'".

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Carney replied: "I will drink the Martini and order another two. Apparently that was Eddie George’s daily intake... before lunch."

It is thought this could be a reference to comments made by former shadow chancellor Ed Balls this weekend. He told The Observer that during lunches, George "would start with a martini, never eat vegetables and incredibly good clarets would appear from the vaults".

The hoaxer also tried to draw Carney into making sexist comments , saying they had hired "rather dashing bar ladies" for the drinks reception.

"If you ask for the crystal glasses you’ll be able to admire their enchanting dexterity. I keep those glasses low down, ha! You don’t reach my age without knowing all the tricks," he added.

However, Carney refused to bite and simply wrote: "Sorry Anthony. Not appropriate at all." He did not respond to two further emails.

"Despite the governor's good manners the incident raises questions about email security and the ease with which one person has been able to trick two of the most important people in the City," says the Financial Times.

Staley was caught out by emails apparently from his chairman John McFarlane, which were sent the evening after he received a grilling over his breach of whistleblowing rules at the bank's AGM.

At no point did Staley seem to realise he has been pranked, continuing to heap praise on his chairman even after receiving an acrostic poem that spelled out the word "whistleblower", says the FT.