Bank of England's Bailey says First Brands, Tricolor collapses may be warning of worse to come

LONDON, Oct 21 (Reuters) - The recent collapses of U.S. car parts maker First Brands and auto dealership Tricolor may be a warning of bigger, systemic risks for the financial system, Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey said on Tuesday.

"Are these cases idiosyncratic or are they what are called 'the canary in the coal mine'? In other words are they telling us something more fundamental.... I think that is still a very open question," Bailey told a financial regulation committee of Britain's upper house of parliament.

The House of Lords' Financial Services Regulation Committee is looking at the growth since 2008 of so-called private markets - finance provided to large businesses outside of normal bank lending or issuing publicly traded shares or bonds.

Shares of some U.S. banks have fallen in recent weeks due to exposure to the bankruptcies of First Brands and Tricolor, which relied heavily on private finance.

Bailey also said he was concerned about potential conflicts of interest from private finance companies buying life insurers which then bought assets owned by the private finance companies.