ECB faces major leadership shake-up as Lagarde and top board members near exit

The European Central Bank (ECB) is preparing for one of its largest leadership transitions in decades, with two-thirds of its six-member Executive Board, including President Christine Lagarde, set to be replaced over the next two ￰0￱ President Luis de Guindos will be stepping down in May 2026, followed by Chief Economist Philip Lane a year later. Lagarde’s term ends in October 2027, and Isabel Schnabel’s tenure on the Executive Board will be coming to an end in December of the same ￰1￱ combined, that would mean that four of the ECB’s top six seats will open by ￰2￱ new appointments may affect the ECB’s internal balance between the north and ￰3￱ with larger economies tend to have more say on regional issues, with smaller economies feeling left out and clamoring for more ￰4￱ prepares for crowded race for executive roles The race to replace Luis de Guindos as vice president is already heating ￰5￱ of the frontrunners is Olli Rehn, Finland’s central bank governor and a veteran of EU ￰6￱ for his pragmatic and centrist style, Rehn has long straddled the line between policymaking and ￰7￱ Raposo, deputy governor of Portugal’s central bank, and Christina Papaconstantinou, her Greek counterpart, are also reportedly in the race, and both bring strong central banking experience and could benefit from governments’ growing preference for gender balance at the ￰8￱ in the mix are Nadia Calvino, the current head of the European Investment Bank, and Maria Luis Albuquerque, Portugal’s Financial Services ￰9￱ further east, Boris Vujcic, Croatia’s central bank chief who guided the country into the euro in 2023, could be in the running for either the vice presidency or the chief economist ￰10￱ chief economist position, opening in 2027, oversees quarterly forecasts and drafts the interest-rate proposals that drive ECB policy ￰11￱ France, it’s a particularly prized ￰12￱ already claimed the presidency with Lagarde and before her, Jean-Claude Trichet, Paris is expected to push hard to retain influence ￰13￱ French candidates include Laurence Boone, a former OECD chief economist and adviser to Emmanuel Macron; Helene Rey, a respected economist at London Business School; Agnes Benassy-Quere, deputy governor at the Bank of France; and Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas, currently chief economist at the ￰14￱ favorites emerge to succeed Lagarde Among the most talked-about contenders is Pablo Hernandez de Cos, Spain’s former central bank governor and now head of the Bank for International ￰15￱ leading figure is Klaas Knot, the long-serving Dutch central bank governor and former chair of the Financial Stability ￰16￱ Cryptopolitan reported over the weekend, Lagarde praised Knot as having the “intellect, stamina, and inclusiveness” needed for the role.

Germany’s Joachim Nagel, head of the Bundesbank, is also up there. Meanwhile, Isabel Schnabel, a sitting ECB executive board member whose term ends just months after Lagarde’s, might also throw her hat in the ring, taking advantage of a legal loophole identified in 2018. However, Germany may struggle to claim the presidency even though it already holds other top EU posts, notably Ursula von der Leyen’s European Commission presidency and Claudia Buch’s leadership of the ECB’s supervisory ￰17￱ the leading candidates not make the cut, the ECB may look outside as it did when it appointed Lagarde in ￰18￱ vacancies may open if Schnabel and Frank Elderson leave their posts, which could mean seats for Eastern European figures like Latvia’s Martins Kazaks or Slovenia’s Bostjan ￰19￱ a premium crypto trading community free for 30 days - normally $100/mo.