IBI and Bank of England host joint workshop on Innovation, Competitiveness, and Growth
Researchers from the Bank and the University of Leeds gathered in Leeds for a two-day workshop exploring the frontiers of innovation, competitiveness, and their implications for financial stability.
The International Banking Institute (IBI) and the Bank of England (BoE) co-hosted a two-day workshop on 21st and 22nd April 2026 at Cloth Hall Court in Leeds, bringing together academics, policymakers, and researchers to explore how innovation and competitiveness shape financial stability.
The workshop opened on Tuesday, 21st April, with keynote addresses from two senior figures in UK financial policy and research.
Kate Collyer, Chief Economist and Director of Strategy at the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), spoke on innovation and competition in financial services, exploring how technological change and regulatory reform can drive growth and competitiveness in the UK financial sector. She also outlined the FCA's research priorities and its move towards a more structured model of academic collaboration, including a new data access pilot launching in summer 2026.
Reflecting on the value of engaging with universities, Ms Collyer said:
Financial services are at a pivotal moment, and getting the regulatory framework right requires the best possible evidence. We have rich data and
important questions, and we want to work with academics who can help us answer them.
Kate Collyer
The second keynote was delivered by Misa Tanaka, Head of Research at the Bank of England, who spoke on how academic research informs and shapes policy decisions within the Bank.
Dr Tanaka said:
The questions we work on every day at the Bank are often exactly the kind of questions that academics find most interesting. A workshop like this one is a very good way to bring these two worlds together. I think both sides leave with new ideas and, hopefully, the beginning of some fruitful collaborations.
Misa Tanaka
The afternoon session featured research from both institutions, with Benjamin Guin of the Bank of England presenting work on product innovation in the UK mortgage market, and Andrea Charalampous of the University of Leeds on the relationship between internal migration and deposit spreads.
Benjamin Guin
Andrea Charalampous
The second day, Wednesday 22nd April, featured three papers: Maren Froemel of the Bank of England presented work on financial frictions and firms' capital composition in the UK, while her colleague Paolo Siciliani presented on the growing role of cloud service providers in banking sector competition and the real domestic effects of bank cross-border lending.
Maren Froemel
Paolo Siciliani
The workshop was co-organised by Professor Danilo Mascia, Chair in Banking and Finance at the University of Leeds, and Mahmoud Fatouh, Senior Researcher at the Bank of England.
Reflecting on the event, Professor Mascia said:
This workshop represents exactly the kind of collaboration we aim to foster at the IBI, bringing together researchers from policymaking institutions and academics to work on questions that are directly relevant to decision makers. We are delighted to have welcomed such distinguished colleagues to Leeds.
Professor Kevin Keasey, Director of the International Banking Institute, echoed this sentiment:
These two days have been genuinely inspiring. As the IBI approaches its 30th anniversary, events like this remind us of what this institute has always stood for: fostering rigorous, policy-relevant research at the highest level. Seeing researchers from the Bank of England and IBI engage so openly and productively on questions at the very frontier of our field fills me with great pride, and with real optimism about what the next chapter holds.
