"You can expect that the Bank of England will take those (financial stability) responsibilities ... and we will reveal after the fact the broad thrust of measures we've taken," Carney told a committee of lawmakers.

"Material decisions (from the referendum) can have an impact on financial stability. Our responsibility is to ensure that the resilience of the system has been increased in order to withstand those (decisions)."

Prime Minister David Cameron has promised to hold a referendum on Britain's EU membership by the end of 2017, although many analysts expect it could happen as soon as the middle of this year.

(Reporting by Huw Jones and David Milliken, writing by Andy Bruce; Editing by Ana Nicolaci da Costa)