Following the Italian elections, Dott. Tommaso Padoa-Schioppa has been appointed Minister of Finance. He thus succeeds Mr. Giulio Tremonti as Governor of the Bank.

Dott. Tommaso Padoa-Schioppa, 66 years old, is an Italian banker and a former member of the European Central Bank Executive Board.

He graduated from Bocconi University, Milan in 1966 and received a Master's degree from the Massachussets Institute of Technology in 1970. He joined the Bank of Italy in 1968, becoming Vice-Director General from 1984 to 1997. From 1993 to 1997, he was also president of the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision.

Dott. Padoa-Schioppa was also a member of the European Central Bank's six-member executive board from its foundation in 1998 until the end of May, 2005.