EU Ombudsman chides ECB director Draghi for G30 membership

The European Ombudsman today followed Corporate Europe Observatory’s call for European Central Bank (ECB) President Mario Draghi to suspend his membership of the Group of 30 (G30). Her recommendations also insist future ECB Presidents stay out of the G30, a financial industry interest group composed of bankers from private financial institutions as well as national central banks.

Corporate Europe Observatory’s complaint regarding Draghi’s G30 membership that launched the Ombudsman’s investigation underlined the vital importance of ECB decision-making bodies avoiding – even the perception of - conflicts of interest, as well as close association with special interest groups.

In CEO's view, the G30 bears too great a resemblance to a lobby group representing vested interests, which renders ECB President Mario Draghi’s membership unacceptable.

Corporate Europe Observatory’s monetary and financial policy researcher Kenneth Haar commented:

“The Ombudsman’s decision is timely and very positive. President Draghi’s involvement with the Group of 30 was ill-advised from the start. Since 2016, when the ECB’s mandate for banking supervision was extended, the close ties between the President and the bankers’ group has become absolutely unacceptable.

“Imbalanced policy consultation at the European Central Bank has made the institution vulnerable to the undue influence of financial industry interests, especially in the aftermath of the financial crisis. Especially groups like the G30 continue to be used by some of the biggest global banks to push their political agenda.

“Hopefully, the ECB will implement the Ombudsman’s recommendations without hesitation. The next step will be to reform the advisory groups of the ECB, which our research has shown to be dominated by the financial industry.”

Contact:

Olivier Hoedeman, olivier@corporateeurope.org, +32 (0)2 893 0930

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