Sabine Lautenschläger

Lautenschläger graduated with a Staatsexamen from the University of Bonn in 1990. She began her career on banking supervision in 1995 at the Federal Banking Supervisory Office, the predecessor to today's Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin). She served there as a member of the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision between 2008 and early 2014.Jeff Black and Rainer Buergin (16 December 2013)[https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2013-12-16/lautenschlaeger-hailed-as-possible-successor-to-asmussen-at-ecb Lautenschlaeger Hailed as Possible Successor to Asmussen at ECB], Bloomberg News.

Lautenschläger was appointed as vice president of the Bundesbank in 2011, the first woman to hold that position.[http://en.bankenverband.de/event/german-banking-congress-2014/speakers/ Macroprudential Policy Conference, November 2014: Sabine Lautenschläger] Swedish National Bank. In that capacity, she was in charge of banking and financial supervision.[http://www.politico.eu/article/ecb-board-member/ ECB board member] European Voice, 22 January 2014. She also served as member of the Financial Stability Committee of the European System of Central Banks between 2012 and early 2014.{{cn|date=March 2024}}

During her time at Bundesbank, Lautenschläger pushed for the ECB's stress tests on bank assets to be tough and credible, while calling for the euro region's prospective bank resolution mechanism to have a strong legal basis. She has been among those who have warned about potential conflicts of interest when the ECB has responsibility for both monetary policy and banking supervision. She has argued against treating government bonds as risk-free assets on banks' books.Annika Breidthardt and Andreas Rinke (17 December 2013), [https://www.reuters.com/article/ecb-germany-idUSL6N0JW2KW20131217 Germany proposes Bundesbank deputy for ECB board seat], Reuters. She was also known for her warnings on the risks of keeping interest rates too low for too long.

In line with the Bundesbank board, Lautenschläger consistently opposed the ECB's bond-buying plan, known as Outright Monetary Transactions (OMT).Jeff Black and Jonathan Stearns (14 January 2014)[https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2014-01-13/ecb-candidate-lautenschlaeger-backs-euro-bank-failure-authority ECB Candidate Lautenschlaeger Backs Euro Bank-Failure Authority], Bloomberg News.

Lautenschläger was nominated by the German government as a member of the Executive Board of the European Central Bank in December 2013, succeeding Jörg Asmussen. At the time, Claudia Maria Buch and Elke König were cited by German media as contenders for the post.Rainer Buergin (24 February 2014), [https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2014-02-24/merkel-coalition-said-to-pick-buch-as-bundesbank-vice-president Merkel Coalition Said to Pick Buch as Bundesbank Vice President], Bloomberg News. The eurozone governments were under pressure from MEPs to appoint a woman to the board, which had been all-male after Austria's Gertrude Tumpel-Gugerell left midway through 2011.[http://www.politico.eu/article/ecb-nomination/ ECB nomination] European Voice, 18 December 2013.

Unlike her predecessor, Jörg Asmussen, she has no formal party affiliation. Lautenschläger's nomination was welcomed by policymakers across the political spectrum.Ulrike Herrmann (16 December 2013), [http://www.taz.de/!129503/ Karriere in Europas Zentralbank] Die Tageszeitung. Her candidacy was endorsed by the European Parliament Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs on 13 January and by the full assembly three days later, on 16 January. Early on, commentators noted that Lautenschläger's regulatory experience could also make her an option for the deputy chair of the ECB's Supervisory Board, which must be filled by an executive board member.Tom Körkemeier and Eva Taylor (13 January 2014) [https://web.archive.org/web/20191218101159/https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-ecb-board-lautenschlaeger-idUKBREA0C12K20140113 German ECB candidate strikes hawkish tone], Reuters.

Since her appointment as Vice-Chair of the ECB Supervisory Board in February 2014, Lautenschläger has – alongside Chair Danièle Nouy – also been responsible for European Banking Supervision. She represented the ECB in that capacity in the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision.[http://www.riksbank.se/en/Financial-stability/Macroprudential-Policy-Conference-November-2014/Sabine-Lautenschlager/ German Banking Congress 2014: Sabine Lautenschläger], Association of German Banks website. Accessed 23 March 2024.

In early September 2014, Danièle Nouy and Lautenschläger were mentioned in media ahead of the results of sweeping stress tests that probed the balance sheets of the eurozone's largest lenders.Alice Ross (16 September 2014), [http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/395622ee-3daf-11e4-b782-00144feabdc0.html Lenders hit at ECB over secrecy agreements], Financial Times.

By November 2014, Lautenschläger signaled she would oppose having the ECB purchase government bonds of eurozone countries unless there was a clear threat of persistent consumer price declines. This is a contradiction to an earlier message conveyed by ECB President Mario Draghi and his top deputy Vítor Constâncio to bring inflation higher.Brian Blackstone (29 November 2014), [https://www.wsj.com/articles/ecbs-lautenschlaeger-opposes-government-bond-purchases-1417257394 ECB’s Lautenschlaeger Opposes Government Bond Purchases] Wall Street Journal. Alongside Bundesbank president Jens Weidmann, she later led the opposition in the Governing Council against the decision on 22 January 2015 to start large-scale bond-buying,Jana Randow, Alessandro Speciale and Simon Kennedy (January 26, 2015), [https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-01-26/draghi-plays-chess-in-economy-after-journey-to-trillion-euro-qe Draghi Plays Chess in Economy Class After Journey to QE] Bloomberg Business.Jennifer Ryan and Stephanie Bodoni (29 January 2015), [https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-01-29/ecb-s-praet-sees-euro-area-credit-improving-as-stimulus-kicks-in ECB’s Praet Sees Euro-Area Credit Improving as Stimulus Kicks In], Bloomberg Business. amid concerns that it removes pressure from euro-area countries to reform their economies and boost competitiveness.Brian Parkin and Stefan Riecher (24 January 2015), [https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-01-24/ecb-s-draghi-seeks-real-economic-union-to-lead-euro-area-reforms ECB's Draghi Seeks Real Economic Union to Lead Euro-Area Reforms], Bloomberg Business. By April 2015, she publicly called into question the effectiveness of the bond-buying program and also warned that low interest rates could lead to asset price bubbles.Maria Sheahan (2 April 2015), [https://www.reuters.com/article/ecb-lautenschlaeger-idUSF9N0WF01I20150402 ECB's Lautenschlaeger casts doubts on QE's effectiveness - Wirtschafts Woche], Reuters.

In November 2015, Lautenschläger again broke the normal etiquette by her public criticism of the bank's scheme of quantitative easing. She said that a more loose monetary policy had its limits and that money printing had yet to stabilize sinking price inflation, its formal goal.John O'Donnell (23 November 2015), [https://www.reuters.com/article/ecb-policy-qe-idUSL8N13I3LZ20151123#SgAWGI5rPesPP8KA.97 German ECB policy-setter breaks ranks with Draghi over QE] Reuters.

In September 2019, Lautenschläger quit the Executive Board of the ECB. The ECB did not say why Lautenschläger had quit, though speculation includes her opposition to loose monetary policy, the ending of her role on the Supervisory Board and the impending changes at the top the ECB.Martin Arnold (26 September 2019), [https://www.ft.com/content/b9a62e3e-dfc7-11e9-9743-db5a370481bc ECB's German board member quits over loose monetary policy], Financial Times. She became the third consecutive German board member to resign before the end of their full term.Thomas Escritt and Francesco Canepa (25 September 2019), [https://www.reuters.com/article/us-ecb-board-lautenschlaeger/ecb-hawk-lautenschlaeger-resigns-amid-policy-backlash-idUSKBN1WA2OH ECB hawk Lautenschlaeger resigns amid policy backlash], Reuters.

• Financial Stability Board (FSB), Ex-Officio Member of the Standing Committee on Supervisory and Regulatory Cooperation (2015-2019)

• Alfried Krupp von Bohlen und Halbach Foundation, Member of the Board of Trustees

{{Reflist|3}}

• [https://web.archive.org/web/20131015114532/http://www.bundesbank.de/Navigation/EN/Bundesbank/Tasks_and_organisation/Executive_Board/Sabine_Lautenschlaeger/sabine_lautenschlaeger.html Website], bundesbank.de. 15 October 2013.

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{{s-bef|before=Jörg Asmussen}}

{{s-ttl|title=Member of the Executive Board of the European Central Bank|years=2014–2019}}

{{s-aft|after=Isabel Schnabel}}

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Category:1964 births

Category:Businesspeople from Stuttgart

Category:Executive Board of the European Central Bank members

Category:Jurists from Baden-Württemberg

Category:Living people

Category:University of Bonn alumni