U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has discussed ways to tighten the Treasury’s oversight of the Federal Reserve by borrowing elements from the Bank of England model, in a move that could significantly reshape the central bank’s relationship with the government, the Financial Times reported Thursday. 

Bessent has told market participants he admires reforms introduced in Britain in 1997, when the Bank of England was granted operational independence over monetary policy but remained subject to a structure that gives the government a more defined role in setting the framework around the central bank’s mandate, according to the FT, which did not specify when the conversations took place. 

In comments to the news outlet, Bessent said that the Fed’s mandate “to deliver maximum employment, stable prices and moderate long-term interest rates is of critical importance to the global financial system.” Bessent has also advocated publicly for the Fed to be reformed, according to the newspaper.

“Across the pond, it is admirable how the Bank of England conducts large-scale asset purchases during financial crises and other times of systemic stress, and how they stop their interventions after smooth market functioning has been restored,” Bessent told the FT.

Some market participants told the FT they believed Bessent could favor aspects of the British framework under which the Bank of England governor corresponds regularly with the chancellor over the inflation target, and writes to the Treasury when the target is missed. Bessent, however, told the newspaper that “the system of regular letter writing between the chancellor and governor” had “proven to be both ineffective and bureaucratic.”

Kevin Warsh, Trump’s choice to succeed Powell when Powell’s term as chair ends in May, has signaled interest in adopting a Bank of England-style exchange of letters during crises. Citing people familiar with his thinking, the newspaper reported that Warsh sees such letters as a way to formalize changes he and Bessent want in the Treasury-Fed relationship. 

The discussions come as President Donald Trump has intensified pressure on the Fed and Chair Jay Powell, publicly attacking the central bank for refusing to cut interest rates.

 An ongoing U.S. Justice Department criminal investigation over the cost of Federal Reserve renovations is largely seen as part of the pressure campaign on Powell to step down. On Tuesday, The Washington Post reported that a top deputy of U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro recently acknowledged in a closed-door hearing earlier this month that the department has no evidence of criminal activity related to the renovations. 

Read more at the Financial Times