The Bank of England is the central bank of the United Kingdom. Sometimes known as the "Old Lady of Threadneedle Street" it stands, literally and figuratively, at the financial center of the City of London. The Court of Directors is responsible for the management of the Bank while staff matters are looked after by the Personnel Division. It also offers Educational Services for students of all ages and specialist training and technical assistance for other central banks.

The Bank has many roles: through its Monetary Policy Committee it sets interest rates in order to meet the Government’s inflation target; it manages the Government’s stock register and it prints the country’s bank notes. The Bank has close links with the markets and operates a payments system, the Real Time Gross Settlement System, together with the Central Gilts Office (on behalf of its owner CRESTCo Limited). It collects and publishes, (via MFSD- Monetary and Financial Statistics Division) money and banking data in order to monitor developments in the financial system; although it is no longer responsible for the day to day supervision of institutions.

The Bank of England is represented on the General Council of the European Central Bank and is closely involved in preparations for European Economic and Monetary Union.