(Bloomberg) — European Central Bank policymakers are prepared to keep working with their colleague Peter Kazimir despite his conviction for bribery this week, according to people familiar with their thinking.
While officials consider the guilty verdict unpleasant and are mindful of the reputational damage it could bring for the ECB, they want to see the outcome of his appeal against the Slovak court ruling, said the people, who asked not to be identified reflecting on confidential debates.
Kazimir intends to challenge his conviction in the case, which dates back to his time as finance minister, and won’t resign as Slovakia’s central-bank chief, according to his lawyer.
That’s despite the 56-year-old’s term ending on June 1. He’ll remain in temporary charge until the government can agree on a successor, though could be removed if a higher court confirms his guilt.
For now, Kazimir is expected to attend next week’s Governing Council meeting in Frankfurt, the people said. He won’t have a vote, however, due to the ECB’s rotational system.
An ECB spokesperson declined to comment.
The situation comes at an awkward time for the Frankfurt-based institution, which faces tough decisions on how to steer the euro zone through President Donald Trump’s reordering of global trade. They’re ready to cut interest rates again on June 5, but less sure thereafter with inflation likely to slow in the near term but at risk of surging later on.
Kazimir’s trial isn’t the first against one of the ECB’s own. Malta’s central-bank chief Edward Scicluna asked the ECB last July if he could step aside while a court case against him for fraud is pending. His deputy has attended Governing Council meetings since.
Former Latvian central-bank head Ilmars Rimsevics, meanwhile, fought accusations of bribery while in office through 2019. His trial started weeks before his term ended and he was given a six-year prison sentence in 2023 — a ruling he’s still appealing.
ECB President Christine Lagarde was herself convicted of negligence by a Paris court in 2016 over her handling of a multi-million-euro dispute during her time as French finance minister almost a decade earlier. She wasn’t given any punishment.
Kazimir’s conviction adds to arguments that a career in politics, rather than academia, leaves officials more exposed to scandals. The issue is facing particular scrutiny in a year that could mark the biggest personnel shakeup at the ECB since 2019.
Austria has already appointed former Labor and Economy Minister Martin Kocher to succeed Robert Holzmann at the helm of its central bank. Permanent replacements in other countries including Slovenia, the Netherlands and Portugal have yet to be named.
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