ECB, the Cipollone hypothesis rises: a boost from the Bank of Italy

Piero Cipollone is the strongest candidate for the Bank of Italy To replace Fabio Panetta who will leave the ECB’s Executive Committee at the end of October to take over as Governor of the Italian Central Bank in place of Ignazio Fiesco. Deputy Director of Via XX Settembre since 2020, former CEO of the World Bank, long experience in the payments sector and working on the euro digital construction site, Cipollone will have the characteristics and experience to join the main body of monetary policy in the eurozone at a crucial moment for the choices on the direction interest rates should take.

It is missing due to the government’s seal, particularly that of the Minister of Economy Giancarlo Giorgetti and Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni who have not confirmed Cipollone’s candidacy. The appointment of Panetta’s replacement will be the responsibility of the EU Council of Heads of State and Government and the Executive of the European Central Bank and the European Parliament will express their opinion on this matter. The candidacy is likely to reach the Eurogroup meeting in mid-September in Santiago de Compostela, Spain. But it is also plausible that he will slip because Italy’s match in Europe is complicated.

Yesterday the Cipollone name was relaunched by financial times After last week’s rumors of had won Cipollone has already been unofficially mentioned at the Eurogroup meeting in Brussels. The information was denied by the Ministry of Economy, which specified that Italy had not submitted any official candidacy. write thefoot The Lieutenant Governor’s strong point is his background in studies at La Sapienza University, Stanford University and the University of California.

But it’s not just a matter of biography (great for Cipollone) in choosing Panetta’s successor. Also the issue of balance in Europe. Indeed, the appointment of a member of the Executive Committee of the European Central Bank does not belong to Italy but by custom, given that it is one of the founders of the European Union. Italy will first have to get the approval of the other main members of the European Union to appoint another Italian to the ECB. In fact, the country also has other ongoing issues, such as choosing the headquarters of the Anti-Money Laundering Authority. However, in return, Italy will lose at the head of the institutions, in addition to Panetta Andrea EnriaHead of the supervision of the European Central Bank, who has reached the end of his term. This reinforces Italy’s bid to have a member of the central bank’s board of directors.

Meanwhile, a crucial monetary policy week is in the works. ECB President Christine Lagarde is expected to intervene on Thursday the 27th which will be closely followed by the intervention of Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell after the FOMC meeting on the 25th and 26th. The two banks will have to decide whether to raise interest rates by 25 basis points. The ECB will then publish the results of stress tests on European banks on Friday. In Italy, Unicredit will open the quarterly season on Wednesday, followed by Intesa Sanpaolo on Friday. While Mediobanca will present its financial statements on Thursday. Analysts see bright accounts with growing earnings and strong capital ratios. Next, accounts of big names such as Eni, Essilux, Poste and Snam are expected.