Bank of Italy Insider Is Said to Lead Race for Bank’s No. 2 Job

(Bloomberg) -- A Bank of Italy career official has emerged as the front-runner for the central bank’s no. 2 job after Prime Minister Mario Draghi picked Daniele Franco to become the country’s finance minister, according to officials familiar with the matter.

Luigi Federico Signorini, 65, is leading the race for the BOI’s director-general role, the officials said, asking not to be named discussing the issue. They anticipate a decision on Thursday to ensure swift continuity at the helm of the institution.

A spokesman for the Bank of Italy had no immediate comment.

Signorini has a degree in economics from the University of Florence, where he was at one point an assistant to Draghi when he taught there in the 1980s. Signorini also studied economics at Harvard on a Bank of Italy scholarship.

Out of the past 11 people in that post going back to 1959, seven went on to hold a leading political job, ranging from finance minister to president of the republic. Others who moved on to higher office elsewhere include Fabio Panetta, currently a member of the six-person Executive Board at the European Central Banker.

Signorini is leading a field of candidates that include Piero Cipollone, another BOI official, and Alessandra Perrazzelli, a career lawyer.

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