Ignazio Visco | |
Honorific Suffix: | OMRI |
Office: | Governor of the Bank of Italy |
Term Start: | 1 November 2011 |
Term End: | 31 October 2023 |
Predecessor: | Mario Draghi |
Successor: | Fabio Panetta |
Office1: | Deputy Director General of the Bank of Italy |
Term Start1: | 9 January 2007 |
Term End1: | 1 November 2011 |
Governor1: | Mario Draghi |
Predecessor1: | Pierluigi Ciocca |
Successor1: | Salvatore Rossi |
Birth Date: | 21 November 1949 |
Birth Place: | Naples, Italy |
Education: | Sapienza University University of Pennsylvania |
Ignazio Visco (pronounced as /it/; born 21 November 1949) is an Italian economist and central banker and Governor of the Bank of Italy from 2011 to 2023.[1] [2]
Visco was born in Naples on 21 November 1949.[3] He obtained a summa cum laude degree in economics from the Sapienza University of Rome[3] in 1971 with Federico Caffè as supervisor and continued his studies at the University of Pennsylvania (Economics Department), where he obtained an MA in 1974 and a PhD in Economics in 1981.[3]
In 1972, Visco began his career at the Bank of Italy and in 1990 he was named head of the research department; from 1997 to 2002 he was chief economist of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and on 9 January 2007 he was named deputy director-general of the Bank of Italy (alongside Giovanni Carosio) and a member of its Direttorio (Board of Directors).[4]
On 24 October 2011, Visco was named to succeed Mario Draghi as governor of the Bank of Italy by Italian President Giorgio Napolitano.[2] [5]
Starting from 1 January 2013, in accordance with Legislative Decree 95/12 (converted into law, with modifications, from Law no.135/2012), he also holds the position of chairman of the joint governing board of the Italian Insurance Supervisory Authority (IVASS).
On 28 January 2015,[6] Visco was placed under investigation by the Prosecutor of Spoleto as part a probe into the special administration of Banca Popolare di Spoleto.[7] In September 2016, the case was definitively dropped by a judge, upholding the prosecutor's request.[8]
During his time in office, Visco came under fire for failing to effectively tackle Italy's banking woes. In October 2017, the country's ruling centre-left Democratic Party submitted a motion in Parliament calling for new leadership at the Bank of Italy, casting doubt on Visco's chances of being reappointed to a second term.[9] Following a proposal made by Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni and his cabinet to renominate Visco and the endorsement of the Bank of Italy's high council, President Sergio Mattarella signed a decree to reappoint Visco for a second six-year term.[10] [11] [12]
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