Sharon Donnery in last two for top ECB job

Central Bank deputy governor Sharon Donnery is one of the two contenders nominated by MEPs to head the euro zone’s bank supervisory operation.

The Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs of the European Parliament, meeting in camera in Strasbourg on Tuesday, interviewed three candidates to take over the Single Supervisory Mechanism (SSM) in December from Daniele Nouy. The SSM oversees 119 of the euro area's biggest lenders..

The meeting decided to send Ms Donnery's name forward alongside that of Andrea Enria, the Italian head of the European Banking Authority, to the governing council of the European Central Bank (ECB), of which the SSM is part. Ireland is represented on the council by the Central Bank governor, Philip Lane. The MEPs did not express a preference for either candidate.

Ballot

The council will meet on Monday week to decide by secret ballot on who to nominate, and the name will then return to the European Parliament for another full hearing on a single name and a confirmation vote.

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A source said that Ms Donnery performed strongly in the interviews, which lasted over two hours, demonstrating a good level of experience and understanding of the SSM system and European-wide macro-prudential issues.

Ms Donnery is the Cental Bank governor's alternate on the ECB governing council and previously served as the Central Bank's alternate member of the supervisory board of the SSM. She is the chair of the SSM group on non-performing loans (NPLs) and is chair of the ECB Budget Committee.

It is understood she faced some robust questioning over her attitude to dealing with non-performing loans, with some of the Mediterranean MEPs concerned at the SSM toughness with their banks on how to clear NPLs from their balance sheets.

Favourite

The committee also considered the Frenchman Robert Ophele, chair of the Autorité des Marchés Financiers, France’s market regulator.

Although Ms Donnery is believed to be the favourite of ECB president Mario Draghi for the SSM job, and will certainly be helped by the ECB’s determination to extend gender balance in the organisation, there are concerns among Irish observers that her nomination could affect the race for another senior ECB position, that for chief economist to replace Peter Praet next June. Two Irish appointments to such a senior level are believed unlikely.

Ms Donnery joined the Central Bank in 1996 as an economist in the monetary policy division and has held a range of senior positions. She was for a time registrar of credit unions and director of credit institutions.

She holds a BA in economics and politics and an MA in economics from University College Dublin.