Mervyn King, Baron King of Lothbury in 1990 as a non-executive director, and became the chief economist in 1991. In 1998, he became a deputy governor of the bank and a member of the Group of Thirty. King was appointed as Governor of the Bank of England in 2003, succeeding Edward George. Most notably, he oversaw the bank during the financial crisis of 2007–2008 and the Great Recession. King retired from his office as governor in June 2013, and was succeeded by Mark Carney. He was appointed a life peer and entered the House of Lords as a crossbencher in July 2013. Since September 2014 he
Bank of England note issues which stop copying of banknotes. They are easily identified by photocopiers. Elizabeth II has appeared on all the notes issued since Series C in 1960. The custom of depicting historical figures on the reverse began in 1970 with Series D, designed by the bank's first permanent artist, Harry Eccleston. In 2015, the Bank of England launched a public competition to nominate historic personalities with links to the visual arts for a future redesign of the £20 banknote. The Governor of the Bank of England asked the public to "think beyond the obvious" when nominating suggestions, with over 29,700 nominations finally