Mario Draghi

Mario Draghi
President of the European Central Bank
Incumbent
Assumed office 1 November 2011
Vice President	Vítor Constâncio
Preceded by	Jean-Claude Trichet
Governor of the Bank of Italy
In office 16 January 2006 – 31 October 2011
Preceded by	Antonio Fazio
Succeeded by	Ignazio Visco
Chairman of the Financial Stability Board
In office 2 April 2009 – 4 November 2011
Preceded by	(organization created)
Succeeded by	Mark Carney
Personal details
Born	3 September 1947 (1947-09-03) (age 64) Rome, Italy
Alma mater	Sapienza University of Rome Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Profession	Economist

Mario Draghi (Italian pronunciation: [ˈmaːrjo ˈdraːɡi]; born 3 September 1947) is an Italian banker and economist who succeeded Jean-Claude Trichet as President of the European Central Bank on 1 November 2011.^[1] He was previously the governor of the Bank of Italy from January 2006 until October 2011.

Biography

He was born in Rome, Draghi graduated from La Sapienza University of Rome under the supervision of Federico Caffè, then earned a PhD in economics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1976 under the supervision of Nobel Laureates Franco Modigliani and Robert Solow. He was full professor at the University of Florence from 1981 until 1991.^[2]

From 1984 to 1990 he was the Italian Executive Director at the World Bank. In 1991, he became director general of the Italian Treasury, and held this office until 2001. During his time at the Treasury, he chaired the committee that revised Italian corporate and financial legislation and drafted the law that governs Italian financial markets. He is also a former board member of several banks and corporations (Eni, IRI,^[3] BNL and IMI).

Draghi was then vice chairman and managing director of Goldman Sachs International and a member of the firm-wide management committee (2002–2005).^[4] A controversy existed on his duties while employed at Goldman Sachs.^[4] Pascal Canfin (MEP) asserted Draghi was involved in swaps for European governments, namely Greece, trying to disguise their countries' economic status. Draghi responded that the deals were "undertaken before my joining Goldman Sachs [and] I had nothing to do with" them, in the 2011 European Parliament nomination hearings.^[5][6]

Draghi is a trustee at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey and also at the Brookings Institution, in Washington, D.C.. He has been a Fellow of the Institute of Politics at the John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University.

In his capacity as Bank of Italy governor, he was a member of the Governing and General Councils of the European Central Bank and a member of the Board of Directors of the Bank for International Settlements. He is also governor for Italy on the Boards of Governors of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the Asian Development Bank. In April 2006 he was elected Chairman of the Financial Stability Forum, which became Financial Stability Board in spring 2009.

ECB candidacy

Draghi was frequently mentioned as a potential successor to Jean-Claude Trichet, whose term as President of the European Central Bank ended in October 2011.^[7] Then, in January 2011, German weekly newspaper Die Zeit reported, with reference to high-ranking policy-makers in Germany and France, that it is "unlikely" that Draghi will be picked as Trichet's successor.^[8] However, in February 2011 the situation became further complicated when the main German candidate, Axel Weber, was reported to be no longer seeking the job, reviving the chances of the other candidates.^[9] On 13 February 2011 Wolfgang Münchau, associate editor of the Financial Times, endorsed Draghi as the best candidate for the abovementioned position.^[10] A few days later The Economist wrote that "the next president of the world’s second-most-important central bank should be Mario Draghi".^[11] On 20 April 2011 The Wall Street Journal reported that "Wolfgang Schäuble, Germany's finance minister, is open to Mr. Draghi for the post of ECB President".^[12] A few days later the German newspaper Bild endorsed Draghi by defining him the "most German of all remaining candidates".^[13] Contrary to previous reports about France's position, on 25 April it was reported that Sarkozy now sees Draghi as a full-fledged and an adequate candidate for the job.^[14][15]

On 17 May 2011 the Council of the European Union – Ecofin – adopted a recommendation on the nomination of Draghi as President of the ECB.^[16] On 24 June 2011 Draghi's appointment was confirmed by the European leaders officially as new president of the European Central Bank.^[17] This occurred after he was approved by the European Parliament and the European Central Bank itself.^[18] Draghi will lead the Frankfurt-based institution when Trichet's non-renewable eight-year term expires on 31 October, and Draghi's term would run from 1 November 2011 to 31 October 2019.^[19] Though France long backed Draghi's candidacy, the country had held up the appointment toward the end, insisting that Lorenzo Bini Smaghi, an Italian official on the ECB's six-member board, cede his post on the board to a French representative.^[17] There were concerns that his past employment at Goldman Sachs would hinder his path to the position, although in the end this doesn't appear to have occurred.^[20]

Awards and honors

• 2000 Knight grand cross OMRI^[21]
• 2009 honorary distinction in Statistics (University of Padua)^[22]
• 2010 honorary Master in Business administration (Vicenza, CUOA foundation)^[23].

References

1. ^ Baker, Luke (24 June 2011). "EU leaders appoint Mario Draghi as new ECB president". Uk.reuters.com. http://uk.reuters.com/article/2011/06/24/uk-eu-summit-draghi-idUKTRE75N1JO20110624. Retrieved 26 June 2011. 
2. ^ "Bank of Italy – Mario Draghi". Bancaditalia.it. http://www.bancaditalia.it/bancaditalia/direttorio/governatore;internal&action=_setlanguage.action?LANGUAGE=en. Retrieved 26 June 2011. 
3. ^ "Germany gives green light to Draghi". LifeinItaly.com. 11 May 2011. http://www.lifeinitaly.com/news/en/144558. Retrieved 25 June 2011. 
4. ^ ^{a b} Foley, Stephen (Friday 18 November 2011). "What price the new democracy? Goldman Sachs conquers Europe" (in English). The Independent. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/analysis-and-features/what-price-the-new-democracy-goldman-sachs-conquers-europe-6264091.html. Retrieved 18 November 2011. 
5. ^ "Hearing of Mario Draghi nominated to take over the European Central Bank 14-06-2011" (in (French)). Europa (web portal). http://www.europarl.europa.eu/fr/media-professionals/content/20110614SHL31624/html/Hearing-of-Mario-Draghi-nominated-to-take-over-the-European-Central-Bank-77961. Retrieved 26 June 2011. 
6. ^ "EuroparlTV video: Interview: 'Mario Draghi didn't convince me' – Pascal Canfin, MEP". Europa (web portal). 15 June 2011. http://www.europarltv.europa.eu/en/player.aspx?pid=1fb42677-1ec9-4a72-b327-9f030120db3d. Retrieved 26 June 2011. 
7. ^ Kort, Katharina (29 September 2009), "Super-Mario für die EZB", Handelsblatt, http://www.handelsblatt.com/politik/konjunktur-nachrichten/super-mario-fuer-die-ezb;2462703 
8. ^ "German paper says Draghi's ECB chances diminishing". Reuters. 19 January 2011. http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/01/19/ecb-germany-draghi-idUSBAT00592720110119. 
9. ^ "Weber's Withdrawal Throws Open ECB Race as European Debt Crisis Persists". Bloomberg. 19 January 2011. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-02-09/weber-s-withdrawal-throws-open-ecb-race-as-european-debt-crisis-persists.html. 
10. ^ "Draghi can lead the eurozone out of danger". Financial Times. 13 February 2011. http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/e9edc55e-37a9-11e0-b91a-00144feabdc0.html#axzz1DxWLv7dj. 
11. ^ "The Italian's Job". The Economist. 17 February 2011. http://www.economist.com/node/18180406. 
12. ^ Blackstone, Brian (20 April 2011). "Italian Gains Support in Central Bank Race". The Wall Street Journal. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704740204576273011324066764.html?mod=WSJEurope_hpp_MIDDLETopStories. 
13. ^ "So deutsch ist der neue EZB-Chef". Bild. 29 April 2011. http://www.bild.de/geld/wirtschaft/mario-draghi/ist-neuer-ezb-chef-17630794.bild.html. 
14. ^ "Draghi Said to Be Seen by Sarkozy as Trichet’s Successor". Bloomberg. 25 April 2011. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-24/draghi-said-to-be-seen-by-sarkozy-as-next-central-bank-chief.html. 
15. ^ "Mario Draghi, bien parti pour prendre la présidence de la BCE". Le Monde. 27 April 2011. http://www.lemonde.fr/economie/article/2011/04/27/mario-draghi-bien-parti-pour-prendre-la-presidence-de-la-bce_1513333_3234.html. 
16. ^ "Draghi Appointed ECB Chief". Wall Street Journal. 16 May 2011. http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20110516-715655.html. ^{[dead link]}
17. ^ ^{a b} Galloni, Alessandra, and William Horobin (24 June 2011 <!- – 9:16 am EDT -->). "Draghi appointed ECB chief (intro-only without subscription)". The Wall Street Journal. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304569504576405273012401058.html?mod=googlenews_wsj. 
18. ^ "Mario Draghi appointed as head of European Central Bank". BBC. 24 June 2011. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-13904781. Retrieved 24 June 2011. 
19. ^ Watts, William L. (24 June 2011 <!- – 7:42 am EDT -->). "EU leaders confirm Draghi to head ECB". MarketWatch. http://www.marketwatch.com/story/eu-leaders-confirm-draghi-to-head-ecb-2011-06-24. 
20. ^ "EU appoints Draghi to ECB, Bini Smaghi to leave". Reuters. 24 June 2011. http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/06/24/us-eu-summit-draghi-idUSTRE75N0UK20110624. Retrieved 24 June 2011. 
21. ^ [1]
22. ^ Laurea honoris causa al prof. Mario Draghi
23. ^ I Master cuoa honoris causa

External links

• Profile (includes photo) at the European Corporate Governance Institute Website
• European Central Bank
• Banca d'Italia
• Financial Stability Board

Business positions
Preceded by Antonio Fazio	Governor of the Bank of Italy 2006–2011	Succeeded by Ignazio Visco
Preceded by Jean-Claude Trichet	President of the European Central Bank 2011–present	Incumbent

Persondata
Name	Draghi, Mario
Alternative names
Short description	Italian economist and central banker
Date of birth	3 September 1947
Place of birth	Rome, Italy
Date of death
Place of death