Replaces Antonio Cabrales in the post after his resignation hours after being appointed by the Council of Ministers
MADRID, 22 Feb. (EUROPA PRESS) -
The Official State Gazette (BOE) publishes this Wednesday the appointment of Fernando Fernández Méndez de Andés as the new director of the Bank of Spain, at the proposal of the Popular Party.
The appointment of Fernández, approved yesterday by the Council of Ministers, comes a week after the resignation of the economist Antonio Cabrales as director of the Bank of Spain, just a few hours after being appointed to the post by the Council of Ministers.
In fact, the BOE also includes in its edition this Wednesday a Royal Decree by which it acknowledges the resignation of Cabrales as an unborn director of the Bank of Spain.
Cabrales, a candidate initially proposed by the Popular Party, did not give official explanations for his departure, although, according to the newspaper 'El Mundo', his punctual support in the past for the former Catalan councilor Clara Ponsatí, would be behind the decision. escaped from the Spanish Justice after the illegal referendum on October 1, and former Minister of Economy Andreu Mas-Colell, prosecuted by the Court of Auditors for alleged embezzlement of public money to promote the 'procés' abroad.
The election of Fernando Fernández Méndez de Andés took place after listening to the contribution of the governor of the Bank of Spain, in compliance with the internal regulations of the supervisory body, as reported by the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Digital Transformation through a statement.
Fernando Fernández Méndez de Andés is a PhD in Economics and Professor of Economics and Finance at IE Business School, as well as an international consultant on macroeconomic, regulatory and financial issues and a member of the Advisory Board of the Spanish Institute of Financial Advisors (IEAF) and of the Fundación for Financial Research (FEF).
He is also the director of the Euro Yearbook, edited by the ICO Foundation and the Financial Studies Foundation, with ten consecutive editions.
Previously, he was chief economist of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and chief economist and director of the Santander Group Research Service, as well as an independent director of Bankia between 2012 and 2021 and a non-executive director of Red Eléctrica.
Fernández Méndez de Andés has also been director of the International Financial System Chair at IE Business School and rector of the Antonio de Nebrija University and the European University of Madrid.
Throughout his professional career he has also been part of different economic and financial groups and councils. Specifically, he was a member of the group of experts who authored the 'Lagares Report' for the reform of the Spanish financial system in 2014; the Bruegel Scientific Council in Brussels; the Advisory Board of the Spanish Exporters Club and the Advisory Board of the Princess of Girona Foundation.
The new director of the Bank of Spain was in 2014 a member of the group of external experts for a performance audit of the EU financial assistance programs of the European Court of Auditors.
He is also the author of numerous articles and publications in specialized academic and outreach journals, and a regular contributor to the economic press and the main radio and television channels.
