The Bank Rate Tribunal was a 1957 United Kingdom tribunal established under the Tribunals of Inquiry (Evidence) Act 1921 to inquire into the allegations that an increase in Official Bank Rate had been improperly discussed ahead of its public announcement by the Bank of England. Rumours and allegations had circulated that some financiers had taken advantage of their advance knowledge of a planned Bank rate rise, and so the inquiry primarily sought to establish whether there had been a form of insider trading.
The Tribunal took evidence in the winter of 1957, under the chairmanship of Lord Justice Parker, with Milner Holland CBE QC and Geoffrey de Paiva Veale QC. It reported on 21 January 1958. It ultimately concluded that there was "no justification for allegations that information about the raising of the Bank Rate was improperly disclosed to any person".[1] The inquiry attracted some attention in the winter of 1957 as details of the interactions amongst financiers - and between bankers, Bank of England officials, and government figures - became public, shining some light on how the City of London operated. The Report particularly attracted attention through a two-day debate in the House of Commons in February 1958, and the press reaction to the Report was "distinctly critical", with suggestions that the Report was a whitewash.[2]