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Benoît Cœuré

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Benoît Cœuré
President of Autorité de la concurrence
Assumed office
20 January 2022
Preceded byIsabelle de Silva
Member of the Executive Board of the European Central Bank
In office
1 January 2012 – 31 December 2019
Preceded byLorenzo Bini Smaghi
Succeeded byFabio Panetta
Personal details
Born (1969-03-17) 17 March 1969 (age 55)
Grenoble, France
EducationÉcole Polytechnique

Benoît Georges Cœuré (French: [bənwa kœʁe]; born 17 March 1969[1]) is a French economist who has been serving as President of the Autorité de la concurence since 2022. He previously served as a member of the Executive Board of the European Central Bank from 2012 to 2019.

Education

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Benoît Cœuré graduated from Ecole Polytechnique (X 1987) and the National School of Statistics and Economic Administration (Ensae). He also holds a Master of Advanced Studies (DEA) in economic analysis and policy from the School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences (EHESS) and a B.A. in Japanese from University Paris 7.

Early career

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Cœuré taught economics at l'Ecole Polytechnique[1] and was chief economist, No. 2 official,[2] head of multilateral affairs and development, and head of France’s debt-management office in the country's finance ministry.[3]

From 2007 to 2009, Cœuré was also co-chair of the Paris Club of official creditors. In addition, he co-chaired the G20 Working Group on Reforming the World Bank and the Other Multilateral Development Banks (2009) and of the G20 Sub-Working Group on Global Liquidity Management (2011).

European Central Bank (2012–2019)

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In late November 2011, Cœuré was nominated to the ECB executive board to replace Italy’s Lorenzo Bini Smaghi. He was, in a respect, a replacement for former ECB President Jean-Claude Trichet on the six-member board. France had reportedly insisted, as a condition for approving Italian Mario Draghi as Trichet's replacement earlier in the year, on Bini Smaghi's early resignation so a new French member could be appointed.[2] In confirmation hearings in December, in line with a position already stated by Draghi, Cœuré said the bank maybe would have to increase its purchases of member-country sovereign debt as part of the effort to combat the European sovereign debt crisis.[3] He stated, however, that any increase in bond buying would have to obey the ECB’s primary goal of ensuring price stability. He was confirmed in mid-December[4] and began his 8-year term on 1 January 2012.

Cœuré was named to manage ECB market operations as of March 2012, succeeding José Manuel González Paramo, as well as payment systems and market infrastructures, and for a brief period of time, IT and economic research.[5] He was in charge of international relations and European affairs from 2014, when his German colleague Jörg Asmussen left the ECB,  until 2019. In this capacity, he was a member of the EU Economic and Financial Committee and Euro Working Group and took part in negotiations on financial support to Ireland, Portugal, Cyprus and Greece.

Cœuré is a supporter of the monetary policy of the ECB, which includes the use of unconventional measures. He repeatedly noted that the economic situation since the outbreak of the crisis warrants low ECB interest rates.[6] He warned, however, that the monetary policy response of the ECB to the crises carries risks. It shields, he says, governments and other market participants from the disciplinary force of the markets and could make it easier for them to postpone painful reform.[7][8]

He urged governments not to be complacent, because the rates won’t stay that low forever. “With our decisions we gave them time. It is important that they use this time and prepare themselves and become more resilient”.[9] Already in 2005 he had called for structural reforms and a more sustainable fiscal policy in Europe.[10] He argued repeatedly that for the euro area to be resilient, it would need three lines of defence:[11] flexible and integrated markets, sound national fiscal policies, and a common fiscal capacity.

Coeuré (left) with Klaus Regling

Cœuré argued that central banks actions can generate moral hazard in the banking system and risk. He warned that “support that is considered as appropriate during the crisis might have perverse effects on the incentives of banks at a later stage.[12]” He also argued in favour of the ECB being tasked with banking supervision, but with a strict separation between the monetary policy and bank supervision functions of the ECB [13]

He supported the controversial decision on OMTs (Outright Monetary Transactions), but was in strong favor of the introduced conditionalities to mitigate negative side effects.[14] He argued that “under OMTs, governments will have to continue their reform efforts as required by the respective ESM programme and by IMF involvement. Otherwise, they would simply become ineligible for OMTs. Hence, no reforms, no OMTs.".[15] Therefore, he was perceived in the market to be more on the hawkish side of the Governing Council of the ECB.[16]

Together with his German ECB colleague Jörg Asmussen, Cœuré supported the publication of the minutes of monthly ECB meetings.[17] In a speech delivered in November 2018,[18] he also pioneered the discussion on the role of monetary for climate change[18][19] and he openly criticized the use of output gap calculation in EU macroeconomic policy.[20]

In his farewell speech from the ECB,[21] in December 2019, he argued against overreliance in capital markets to transmit monetary policy, and concluded that “If monetary policy remains a conversation between central banks and financial markets, we shouldn’t be surprised if people don’t trust us.”

In October 2013 Cœuré was appointed chair of the Bank for International SettlementsCommittee on Payment and Settlement Systems,[22] a standard setting body for payment, clearing and securities settlement systems, which he headed for six years. In 2014, the Committee became the Committee on Payments and Market Infrastructures (CPMI). Under his direction, the Committee tackled different topics, such as the resilience and recovery of central counterparties,[23] cyber resilience for financial market infrastructures,[24] and the emergence of crypto assets and tech giants in financial services. The CPMI published the first international report on central bank digital currencies in 2018.[25]

In 2019, Cœuré chaired a Group of Seven working group on global stablecoins.[26] In early 2019, a Reuters poll of economists found that Cœuré was considered best-suited for the role as President of the European Central Bank[citation needed], but Christine Lagarde was eventually nominated for the position.

Career post-ECB

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Bank for International Settlements

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In November 2019, Cœuré was appointed by the board of directors of the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) as Head of the new BIS Innovation Hub, established to foster international collaboration among central banks on innovative financial technology.[27][28] In 2020–21, the BIS Innovation Hub was deployed in Hong Kong, Singapore, Switzerland, London and Stockholm in partnership with local central banks, and built a portfolio of proofs of concept and prototypes across five strategic themes: central bank digital currency, next generation financial market infrastructures, open finance, regtech and suptech, cybersecurity, and green finance.[29] Between 2020 and 2021, Cœuré co-chaired with Bank of England Deputy Governor Sir Jon Cunliffe a working group on central bank digital currency (CBDC) set up by seven central banks and the BIS, which published in September 2021 reports on user needs and adoption, system design and interoperability and financial stability implications.[30] He warned against regulation of digital assets and decentralised finance being developed along different tracks and urged discussions on a global regulatory framework.[31]

Autorité de la concurrence

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In 2021, the French government proposed Cœuré to succeed Isabelle de Silva as the new head of the Autorité de la concurrence, the French antitrust agency.[32] On 13 January 2022, after being heard by the Senate and the National Assembly, his appointment was confirmed.[33][34] He took office on 22 January 2022 for a five-year term.

Controversy

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In May 2015, in an evening non-public speech with simultaneous release added but then delayed due to "an internal procedural error" at ECB, Cœuré apparently moved markets the next day in the Euro currency and European stocks and bonds with the announcement that the bank's bond-buying program would be "moderately front-load[ed]" before the summer trading lull. The speech was originally scheduled to take place under the so-called Chatham House Rule.[35][36]

In the days after the Cœuré speech the ECB "declined to comment about its use of Chatham House rules" for the 18 May speech or about its other recent invocations of the rule.[37] In a letter to the European Ombudsman,[38] Emily O’Reilly, ECB’s President, Mario Draghi, clarified the circumstances of the incident and noted that it resulted from internal miscommunication at an operational level on the timing of the speech’s publication, which took place out-of-office hours.[39] The Ombudsman welcomed the transparency steps taken by ECB to prevent any other similar incident.[40]

Other activities

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Government agencies

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  • Committee for the evaluation of the French recovery plan “France Relance”, Chair (2021–2022)
  • Committee on the Monitoring and Evaluation of Financial Support Measures for Companies Confronted with the Covid-19 Epidemic, Chair (April 2020)
  • French Development Agency (AFD), Member of the Board of Directors (2007–2009)
  • Caisse d'Amortissement De La Dette Sociale (CADES), Member of the Board of Directors (2002–2007)

Non-profit organizations

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University and Research Centres

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  • Jacques Delors Centre at Hertie School, Member of the Advisory Board[43]
  • Center for Economic Research and its Applications (CEPREMAP), President (since 2012)
  • Cercle des Economistes, Member (on extended leave)
  • Paris School of Economics, Member of the Board (2016–2022)
  • International Center for Monetary and Banking Studies, Chair of the Scientific Committee

Speeches

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References

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  1. ^ a b "Benoit Coeuré". European Central Bank. Archived from the original on 4 December 2013. Retrieved 29 November 2013.
  2. ^ a b Deen, Mark; Katz, Alan (25 November 2011). "France Nominates Treasury's Coeure for ECB Executive Board". Bloomberg News. Archived from the original on 7 March 2016. Retrieved 12 January 2012.
  3. ^ a b Deen, Mark; Stearns, Jonathan (13 December 2011). "France's Coeure Says ECB May Have to Step Up Bond Buying". Bloomberg News. Archived from the original on 8 March 2016. Retrieved 12 January 2012.
  4. ^ "New E.C.B. Official May Be Open to Bond-Buying", NYTimes.com, 15 December 2011. Retrieved via topsy.com 10 April 2012.
  5. ^ "ECB confirms Belgian Praet receives economics portfolio", Reuters, 3 January 2012. Retrieved 10 April 2012.
  6. ^ "ECB's Coeure : Crisis to Blame for Low Rates, not ECB -Report",4-traders, 11 November 2013.
  7. ^ "ECB’s Coeure says low interest rates risk delay of reforms", forexlive, 11 July 2013.
  8. ^ "Reviving credit growth in the euro area", 11 July 2013
  9. ^ "Interview with Börsen-Zeitung". European Central Bank. 18 September 2013.
  10. ^ "Fiscal Policy in Emu: Towards a Sustainability and Growth Pact?", "Oxford Review of Economic Policy vol. 21", 2005
  11. ^ "The euro area's three lines of defence". 2 February 2018.
  12. ^ "ECB Liquidity Can’t Be Capital Lack Substitute: Coeure", "Bloomberg", October 3, 2013.
  13. ^ "Symposium: “Central Banking: Where Are We Headed?” in honour of Stefan Gerlach’s contribution to the Institute for Monetary and Financial Stability", 7 February 2013.
  14. ^ "Outright Monetary Transactions, one year on", 2 September 2013.
  15. ^ "ECB Coeure: OMT A Monetary Policy Necessity ECB Is Prepared To Use", "eFXnews", 2 September 2013
  16. ^ "ECB Reference Guide", "Credit Suisse"
  17. ^ "Zentralbanker: EZB soll Protokolle veröffentlichen", Focus, 20 July 2013
  18. ^ a b Coeuré, Benoit (8 November 2018). "Monetary policy and climate change". European Central Bank. Retrieved 9 November 2019.
  19. ^ Jones, Claire (November 2018). "Cœuré addresses criticism over ECB's green finance efforts". Financial Times. Retrieved 9 November 2019.
  20. ^ "True, the output gap is an elusive concept that should never have become a gauge for conducting public policy, and it may be larger than thought.", Monetary policy: lifting the veil of effectivenes, Speech by Benoit Cœuré, 18 December 2019
  21. ^ Bank, European Central (18 December 2019). "Speech by Benoît Cœuré, Member of the Executive Board of the ECB, at the ECB colloquium on "Monetary policy: the challenges ahead" held in his honour".
  22. ^ "About the Committee on Payments and Market Infrastructures (CPMI)", bis.org, updated 13 May 2015.
  23. ^ "Resilience and recovery of central counterparties (CCPs): Further guidance on the PFMI" (PDF). August 2016.
  24. ^ "CPMI-IOSCO release guidance on cyber resilience for financial market infrastructures". 29 June 2016.
  25. ^ "Central bank digital currencies". 12 March 2018.
  26. ^ "Investigating the impact of global stablecoins". 18 October 2019.
  27. ^ Benoît Cœuré appointed to head BIS Innovation Hub Bank for International Settlements (BIS), press release of 11 November 2019.
  28. ^ Balazs Koranyi (11 November 2019), ECB's Coeure to head BIS Innovation Hub from Jan. 15 Reuters.
  29. ^ "BIS Innovation Hub work programme".
  30. ^ "Central bank digital currencies – executive summary". 30 September 2021.
  31. ^ ""Benoît Cœuré says regulators likely to agree crypto framework in 2022"". The Financial Times. 18 December 2021.
  32. ^ Sandra Auger and Leigh Thomas (16 December 2021), French antitrust watchdog -Elysee Reuters.
  33. ^ "Demande de vidéos - Vidéos de l'Assemblée nationale". videos.assemblee-nationale.fr.
  34. ^ "Audition de M. Benoît Coeuré, candidat proposé par le Président de la République aux fonctions de président de l'Autorité de la concurrence". videos.senat.fr.
  35. ^ Buell, Todd, and Josie Cox, "ECB to Front-Load on Bond Purchases Ahead of Summer Liquidity Lull" (photo included; access may be subscription)-required, The Wall Street Journal, 19 May 2015. Retrieved 19 May 2015.
  36. ^ Spence, Peter, "Hedge funds got early access to information that prompted euro slide", The Telegraph, 19 May 2015. Retrieved 26 May 2015.
  37. ^ Fletcher, Laurence, with Todd Buell, "ECB error spurs questions about policy disclosures", MarketWatch, 25 May 2015. Retrieved 26 May 2015.
  38. ^ "Reply from the President of the European Central Bank to the Ombudsman's letter concerning a speech delivered by a member of the ECB Executive Board on 18 May 2015". 10 June 2015.
  39. ^ ""ECB to review format of private calls by chief economist to investors"". The Financial Times. 22 January 2021.
  40. ^ "Ombudsman welcomes further transparency steps by ECB". 3 December 2015.
  41. ^ Europe Policy Group World Economic Forum.
  42. ^ Members Cercle des économistes.
  43. ^ Advisory Board Jacques Delors Centre at Hertie School.
Government offices
Preceded by Member of the Executive Board of the European Central Bank
2012–2019
Succeeded by