Bank of Italy Governor Mario Draghi has emeged as the single candidate to replace Jean-Claude Trichet as president of the European Centeral Bank (ECB) later this year.
Finance ministers from the 17-nation euro area unanimously nominated Draghi for the ECB post late Monday at a meeting in Brussels.
Finance ministers from the 17-nation euro area unanimously nominated Draghi for the ECB post late Monday at a meeting in Brussels.
European Union finance ministers were set to give Draghi their approval on Tuesday and he will have to win approval from the European Parliament before a final decision on the next ECB president is made at the June 24 European Council meeting.
Draghi's nomination became a shoe-in last week after German Chancellor Angela Merkel made it clear her country had lifted any reservations on the candidacy of the MIT-trained banker.
"I know Mario Draghi. He is a very interesting person of vast experience. He is very close to our views in regard to the need for stability and solidity in economic policy," Merkel said in an interview published last Thursday by the Die Zeit weekly.
The Euro Group's other heavyweight France gave its green light to Draghi at the end of last month. Trichet is set to step down when his eight-year term ends on October 31. However, given Europe's debt crisis he may leave earlier to allow Draghi to guide ECB policy.
Speaking after Monday night's meeting, the Euro Group's chairman, Jean-Claude Juncker of Luxembourg, said Draghi "is a central banker who has proven throughout his career that he holds the principals of the euro dear... he is a man who brings together all the necessary qualities to be a worthy successor to Trichet".
By taking the ECB post Draghi will be forced to step down not only as Bank of Italy governor but also as chairman of the Group of 20's Financial Stability Board (FSB). His appointment has also put into question Lorenzo Bini Smaghi's future on the ECB's six-member governing board, since it would then have two Italian members.
Already Monday night French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde invited Bini Smaghi to "elegantly step down" from the board in order to open a place for a French representative following Trichet's departure.
"It is in no way logical that the board has two members from the same country. What is logical is that one of the two, obviously not the president who has just been nominated, elegantly leaves his post," she said.
Lagarde recalled that this had been discussed at last month's summit in Rome between French President Nikolas Sarkozy and Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi, after which France threw its support behind Draghi's candidacy.
On Monday, Bini Smaghi indicated he wanted to stay on the ECB board until his mandate expired in 2013. Bank of Italy governor, Draghi, 63, is already a member of the ECB's Governing and General Councils and he also sits on the board of the Bank for International Settlements and the boards of governors of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the Asian Development bank.
He was elected chairman of the Financial Stability Forum in April 2006 which three years later was transformed into the permanent FSB in the wake of the international economic recession and the Greek financial crisis.
Draghi took over the Bank of Italy post at the start of 2006 after former governor Antonio Fazio quit for his alleged role in a banking takeover scandal.
Fazio was accused of acting above the law in his efforts to thwart any foreign takeover of an Italian bank.
Draghi was Treasury director general for 10 years from 1991 to 2001 during which time he spearheaded Europe's biggest-ever privatization program and framed a new company takeover law protecting small investors, which bears his name.
Before that he served for six years as executive director of the World Bank (1984-90) and from 2002 to 2006 served as vice chairman and managing director of Goldman Sachs International and was a member of the firm-wide management committee.
Draghi is a graduate of the University of Rome, earned his Ph.D in economics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and held a full chair at the University of Florence in the decade before joining the Treasury.
Draghi's nomination became a shoe-in last week after German Chancellor Angela Merkel made it clear her country had lifted any reservations on the candidacy of the MIT-trained banker.
"I know Mario Draghi. He is a very interesting person of vast experience. He is very close to our views in regard to the need for stability and solidity in economic policy," Merkel said in an interview published last Thursday by the Die Zeit weekly.
The Euro Group's other heavyweight France gave its green light to Draghi at the end of last month. Trichet is set to step down when his eight-year term ends on October 31. However, given Europe's debt crisis he may leave earlier to allow Draghi to guide ECB policy.
Speaking after Monday night's meeting, the Euro Group's chairman, Jean-Claude Juncker of Luxembourg, said Draghi "is a central banker who has proven throughout his career that he holds the principals of the euro dear... he is a man who brings together all the necessary qualities to be a worthy successor to Trichet".
By taking the ECB post Draghi will be forced to step down not only as Bank of Italy governor but also as chairman of the Group of 20's Financial Stability Board (FSB). His appointment has also put into question Lorenzo Bini Smaghi's future on the ECB's six-member governing board, since it would then have two Italian members.
Already Monday night French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde invited Bini Smaghi to "elegantly step down" from the board in order to open a place for a French representative following Trichet's departure.
"It is in no way logical that the board has two members from the same country. What is logical is that one of the two, obviously not the president who has just been nominated, elegantly leaves his post," she said.
Lagarde recalled that this had been discussed at last month's summit in Rome between French President Nikolas Sarkozy and Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi, after which France threw its support behind Draghi's candidacy.
On Monday, Bini Smaghi indicated he wanted to stay on the ECB board until his mandate expired in 2013. Bank of Italy governor, Draghi, 63, is already a member of the ECB's Governing and General Councils and he also sits on the board of the Bank for International Settlements and the boards of governors of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the Asian Development bank.
He was elected chairman of the Financial Stability Forum in April 2006 which three years later was transformed into the permanent FSB in the wake of the international economic recession and the Greek financial crisis.
Draghi took over the Bank of Italy post at the start of 2006 after former governor Antonio Fazio quit for his alleged role in a banking takeover scandal.
Fazio was accused of acting above the law in his efforts to thwart any foreign takeover of an Italian bank.
Draghi was Treasury director general for 10 years from 1991 to 2001 during which time he spearheaded Europe's biggest-ever privatization program and framed a new company takeover law protecting small investors, which bears his name.
Before that he served for six years as executive director of the World Bank (1984-90) and from 2002 to 2006 served as vice chairman and managing director of Goldman Sachs International and was a member of the firm-wide management committee.
Draghi is a graduate of the University of Rome, earned his Ph.D in economics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and held a full chair at the University of Florence in the decade before joining the Treasury.
0 commenti
Post a Comment