Germany Wants to Keep Schnabel’s Markets Portfolio at ECB

Germany wants its candidate for Isabel Schnabel’s vacancy at the European Central Bank to keep her financial-markets portfolio, according to people familiar with the matter.

Berlin will put forward a name for the position by the Oct. 28 deadline, with the aim of securing the same remit as before, said the people who declined to be identified because discussions on the matter are private.

Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil informed his euro-area peers of Germany’s plans at a meeting Luxembourg on Thursday, the people said.

“I coordinate closely with the chancellery on all issues relating to the ECB, and we will then also have a proposal from Germany,” he told reporters on Friday. “In the bilateral talks here, I can see that every colleague is also very clear that Germany plays a role in the ECB.”

Schnabel’s decision last month to leave in January, a year before the end of her term, has created an impetus to start decision-making among governments on what is set to be a series of vacancies within the ECB’s top echelon.

Chief Economist Philip Lane and President Christine Lagarde are also leaving next year, the latter potentially a few months before the official end of her term, setting the stage for a “grand bargain” for the posts.

Schnabel’s exit for the International Monetary Fund is the most immediate concern for governments, given that the ECB chief has yet to formally signal her intentions.

Kyriakos Pierrakakis, who heads the meetings of the currency bloc’s finance chiefs, said after the gathering that he was “hopeful” a selection to fill Schnabel’s post would take place in November.

“With Ms Schnabel, we’ve had a strong representative” in Frankfurt, Klingbeil said. “Of course Germany will attach importance to continuing to be strongly represented in the ECB’s leadership bodies, and there will soon be a personnel proposal for that.”

Given the combination of posts likely to come up, a key question over the German’s successor will center on the intentions of French President Emmanuel Macron. Paris officials appeared to be targeting the ECB’s chief economist role, though the markets role is likely to have its attractions for them too.

The selection of portfolios is formally in the gift of the central bank’s president, though it’s unlikely that a government-level deal on the matter could be ignored.

The race for the Lagarde’s job is likely to be between former Dutch and Spanish central-bank chiefs Klaas Knot and Pablo Hernandez de Cos.

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