ECB watchdog faces brain drain despite Brexit countdown

÷ THE European Central Bank’s watchdog for the region’s lenders may be left without its second-in-command this month as the incumbent concludes her time in office before the Governing Council can gather to propose a successor.

“Sabine Lautenschlaeger’s five-year term as Vice Chair of the Supervisory Board will end as planned in February,” the ECB said in a statement. “She will continue her eight-year term as member of the Executive Board.”

The move raises the prospect that weeks before a possible disorderly Brexit, the watchdog for the euro-area’s biggest banks may be led solely by Andrea Enria, who has been in the job of chair of the Single Supervisory Mechanism for only a month. Lautenschlaeger (54), pictured, claimed on Friday that the ECB feels “well prepared as far as that’s possible”. In January, ECB President Mario Draghi acknowledged a delay in agreeing the succession.

The Governing Council was previously scheduled to hold a non-monetary policy meeting this week, which is now no longer planned. That means it isn’t currently slated to gather formally before February 20 – nine days after Lautenschlaeger’s term concludes.