* Dale leaves BoE for BP after 25 years at central bank
* Dale recently moved to focus on financial stability
* HSBC calls Dale's loss a setback for central bank
* UBS's Yallop to join BoE's Prudential Regulation Authority (Adds analyst comment)
By David Milliken
LONDON, Aug 4 (Reuters) - Former Bank of England (BoE) chiefeconomist Spencer Dale is leaving the central bank, just twomonths after being moved to a new role, to become chiefeconomist at oil major BP, the BoE said on Monday.
Dale joined the BoE in 1989 and spent six years as thecentral bank's chief economist, where he was responsible for theBoE's growth and inflation forecasts, and took a relativelyhawkish line on monetary policy.
As part of a major reorganisation of the central bank byGovernor Mark Carney, Dale swapped jobs in June with AndyHaldane, who was responsible for financial stability issues.
Dale lost his seat on the BoE's high-profile Monetary PolicyCommittee and Haldane had said he intended to expand the role ofthe BoE's chief economist to conduct more research intofinancial stability.
The BoE said it would advertise for a replacement for Dale,who will start his new role at BP - Britain's third-biggestlisted company - on Oct. 27. BP said Dale would be responsiblefor its energy price benchmarks and general economic advice.
In his most recent role at the BoE, Dale served on itsFinancial Policy Committee (FPC), which in late June announcedmajor measures to limit how much most Britons can borrow to buya new home.
HSBC economist Simon Wells said Dale's departure mighthamper Carney's efforts to harmonise the culture within the BoE,after a major expansion in its responsibilities last year tocover financial regulation. This involved taking on many stafffrom the former supervisor, the Financial Services Authority.
"We suspect Mr Dale was brought on to the FPC to bring morestructure to the processes and objectives of the BoE's financialstability wing," Wells said. "Mr Dale's departure is therefore asignificant setback in formalising macroprudential policy."
SENIOR ROLES
However, Dale's move will give Carney further scope toremodel the central bank, which has seen a major turnover insenior roles since Carney's arrival in July 2013.
Finance minister George Osborne - with input from Carney -has appointed three new deputy governors from outside the BoE'spermanent staff over the past year.
Dale had been seen on betting markets as the most likelycandidate to succeed Charlie Bean as deputy governor formonetary policy earlier this year, but lost out to BenBroadbent, an external member of the MPC.
The BoE also announced on Monday two external appointmentsto the board of its Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA), whichhandles day-to-day supervision of Britain's financial sector.
The new members are Sandra Boss, a former partner atmanagement consultancy McKinsey, who will start on Sept. 1, andMark Yallop, chief executive of Swiss bank UBS's British arm, who starts on Dec. 1. Yallop will leave his role atUBS, which he took up in May 2013.
Boss and Yallop will provide expertise on investment banks,the BoE said. It added that it was still seeking a thirdindependent member of the PRA board to provide expertise on theinsurance industry. (Additional reporting by Ron Bousso in London and KatharinaBart in Zurich; Editing by William Schomberg and David Holmes)
BP (BP.)
