(Adds confirmation by Bank of England, context)
LONDON, July 2 (Reuters) - The Bank of England has hired aformer senior Barclays foreign exchange analyst to head a newdata-crunching unit aimed at looking at long-run financial andeconomic risks, the central bank said on Wednesday.
Paul Robinson, who used to head foreign exchange research atBarclays, will run the team and report to new chiefeconomist Andy Haldane, a BoE spokesman said.
Haldane previously focused on financial stability, but lastmonth he swapped jobs with chief economist Spencer Dale, andaims to broaden the central bank's research away from itstraditional focus on macroeconomics.
Last year the central bank regained primary responsibilityfor financial regulation in addition to setting interest rates,and in March Governor Mark Carney announced a number of staffingchanges to better integrate different parts of the bank.
Robinson worked at the BoE earlier in his career, andfollows in the footsteps of Simon Hayes, Barclays' former chiefUK economist, who returned from the private sector and is nowresponsible for the central bank's short-run economic forecasts.
The central bank has also advertised the new position of ahead of research, which will report to Haldane and focus on theinteraction between monetary policy and financial regulation. (Reporting by David Milliken in London and Ankush Sharma andKaren Rebelo in Bangalore; Editing by Toby Chopra)