Jean-Claude Trichet

Trichet during the WEF 2010

Jean-Claude Trichet's signature, as on euro banknotes is displayed

Jean-Claude Trichet (born December 20, 1942 in Lyon ) is a French financial expert who was the 2nd President of the European Central Bank (ECB) from November 2003 to October 2011 .

Life

Jean-Claude Trichet was the oldest of the three children of a university professor from Brittany . The father died when Jean-Claude was 16 years old.

Trichet attended the Lycée Fénelon and the Lycée Condorcet in Paris . After graduating from the Baccalauréat , he graduated from the École des Mines de Nancy, a mining academy in Lorraine , from which he graduated in 1964 as a qualified mining engineer ( Diplôme ingénieur civil des Mines ). Subsequently he obtained in 1966 at the University of Paris the master -degree in economics ( Maîtrise en sciences économiques ) and at Sciences Po ( Sciences Po Paris ) a degree in political science. After his first professional experience as an engineer in the private sector, he attended the École nationale d'administration (ENA) from 1969 to 1971 .

In 1971 he joined the Audit Department ( Inspection générale des finances ) of the French Ministry of Economics and Finance . In 1974 he was initially a consultant at the General Inspectorate for Finance, and one year later, in 1975, he moved to the Treasury ( Direction générale du Trésor ) - the control center for French monetary policy. In 1976 he became General Secretary of the Interministerial Committee for the Improvement of Industrial Structures ( Comité interministériel pour l'aménagement des structures industrielles , CIASI ).

In 1978 he became an advisor to the then Minister for Economic Affairs and Finance, René Monory , and in the same year an advisor to the then President Valéry Giscard d'Estaing for the areas of industrial, energy and research policy. When Giscard d'Estaing lost to François Mitterrand in the presidential election of 1981 , Trichet went back to the treasury. There he was Head of Development Aid Office, Deputy Director of Bilateral Affairs, Head of International Affairs, Chairman of the Paris Club - Debt Rescheduling and Debt Relief of Insolvent States.

In 1987 Trichet became director of the Treasury ( Directeur du Trésor ). He held this office under changing - including socialist - prime ministers until 1993, when he was appointed head ( governor ) of the French central bank by then Prime Minister Édouard Balladur . In this position he pushed privatization and played a key role in preparing the introduction of the euro as part of the European Economic and Monetary Union .

In autumn 1997 France proposed Jean-Claude Trichet as future president of the (at that time) not yet established European Central Bank (ECB). For the occupation of the prestigious office, competition arose with the Dutch President of the European Monetary Institute (EMI) (the forerunner of the ECB) Wim Duisenberg , who was favored by the vast majority of EU countries. In May 1998, the heads of state and government of the EU agreed on a compromise: Duisenberg was nominated as the first President of the ECB, but under the condition that the regular eight-year term of office was not fully used in order to cede the function to Trichet early - as early as 2003.

During his time in the French treasury, Trichet was also responsible for state-owned companies , including the (now privatized) major bank Crédit Lyonnais , which caused France to experience the biggest banking scandal in post-war history in 1992 because of its failed expansion business. From 2000, the authorities investigated Trichet on suspicion that he had deliberately concealed tricks of the billions of the top bank at the time. In January / February 2003, the trial of Trichet and other defendants was opened in a Paris criminal court. On June 18, 2003, the judges announced Trichet's acquittal.

On November 1, 2003, Jean-Claude Trichet took up the post of President of the European Central Bank (ECB).

In the financial crisis that began in 2007 , Trichet made US dollars available to the banks and accepted euro-denominated securities as collateral in order to ease the situation on the money market. During the euro debt crisis, he was also responsible for the European Central Bank (ECB) buying up government bonds from highly indebted euro countries .

Trichet's eight-year tenure ended on October 31, 2011 amid the sovereign debt crisis in the euro area. His successor as President of the European Central Bank was Mario Draghi .

Jean-Claude Trichet sits on the G30 board . Since April 2012 he has been Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Brussels think tank BRUEGEL . He is also European Chairman of the Trilateral Commission and a consultant for the transatlantic think tank European Horizons.

Private

In 1965 Jean-Claude Trichet married the diplomat and translator Aline Rybalka, whose parents had immigrated to France from the Ukraine. The couple had two children - Pierre-Alexis (Marketing Director at the telecommunications company Orange ) and Jean-Nicolas, musician and producer of electronic music. Trichet lives with his family in Paris.

Awards

Jean-Claude Trichet with the 2011 Charlemagne Prize medal

• Federal Cross of Merit ( Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany )
• Commandeur de l'Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur (Commander of the French Legion of Honor )
• Officier de l ' Ordre national du Mérite
• European Banker of the Year 2007
• Order of Orange-Nassau (Grand Cross) 2011
• Charlemagne Prize 2011
• 2011: World Economic Prize
• 2011: Great Golden Decoration on Ribbon for Services to the Republic of Austria
• 2011: Hessian Order of Merit

Prices

• "Policy maker of the Year", The International Economy magazine (1991)
• "Zerilli Marimo" of the Académie des sciences morales et politiques (1999)
• "Pico della Mirandola" (2002)
• Prix ​​franco-allemand de la Culture / German-French Culture Prize (2006)
• "Policy maker of the Year", The International Economy magazine (2007)
• Ludwig Erhard commemorative coin in gold (2007)
• "Person of the Year", Financial Times (2007)
• "European Banker of the Year 2007", the journalists' association "The Group of 20 + 1" (2008)
• "Central Banker of the Year", The Banker (2008)
• "Central Bank Governor of the Year", Euromoney (2008)
• Honorary doctorates from several universities

literature

• Jean-Claude Trichet , in: Internationales Biographisches Archiv 39/2011 from September 27, 2011, in the Munzinger archive ( beginning of article freely available)

Web links

Commons : Jean-Claude Trichet  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• biography

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} Jean-Claude Trichet in the Munzinger archive ( beginning of article freely available)
2. ↑ Jean-Claude Trichet - Monsieur Euro very close . In: Die Welt from June 20, 2010
3. ↑ ^{a b c} Curriculum Vitae ( Memento of the original dated June 14, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. on the website of the European Central Bank  
4. ↑ EZA (EuroZoneAdvisors) Report 542 from June 24, 2003
5. ↑ ^{a b c} Who’s Who: Jean-Claude Trichet
6. ↑ Group of Thirty / Members-Bios / Jean-Claude Trichet ( Memento of the original from May 25, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
7. ^ Curriculum vitae of Jean-Claude Trichet . In: Wirtschaftswoche from November 6, 2003
8. ↑ ECB President Trichet receives international honor . Focus Online , December 4, 2010
9. ↑ Europe. With Germanic coloring . In: Der Spiegel from November 10, 1997
10. ↑ ^{a b} Trichet has been waiting for the head of the ECB for years . In: Süddeutsche Zeitung of July 15, 2003
11. ↑ Trichet appointed new governor of the central bank . In: Süddeutsche Zeitung of October 16, 2003
12. ↑ European Central Bank. Duisenberg resigns - Trichet takes over . In: Süddeutsche Zeitung of October 27, 2003
13. ↑ Banks vying for dollar loans from the ECB. , In: Financial Times Deutschland on September 11, 2008.
14. ↑ Draghi becomes President of the ECB , In: Die Zeit, accessed June 24, 2011
15. ↑ Archive link ( Memento of the original from September 29, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
16. ^ New chairman of the board of directors of the Bruegel think tank: Jean-Claude Trichet. European Movement Germany , accessed April 18, 2012 . 
17. ↑ Leadership. (No longer available online.) In: European Horizons. Archived from the original on March 11, 2018 ; accessed on March 10, 2018 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
18. ↑ Jean-Claude Trichet in the Notable Names Database (English)
19. ↑ European Banker of the Year ( Memento of the original dated November 11, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. in: Maleki Group , accessed December 7, 2010 
20. ^ Jean-Claude Trichet receives the Charlemagne Prize . In: Tages-Anzeiger from December 4, 2010
21. ↑ Speech by the Charlemagne Prize winner Jean-Claude Trichet - pdf ( Memento of the original from June 9, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
22. ^ Justification of the board of directors of the society for the award of the International Charlemagne Prize to Aachen to the President of the European Central Bank Dr. hc Jean-Claude Trichet ( Memento from December 10, 2010 in the Internet Archive )
23. ↑ List of all decorations awarded by the Federal President for services to the Republic of Austria from 1952 (PDF; 6.9 MB)
24. ↑ Economic Council of the CDU - commemorative coin L. Erhard ( Memento of the original from November 11, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
25. ↑ Trichet named Banker of the Year 2007 . In: Handelsblatt of May 27, 2008