Antonio Fazio

Infobox Prime Minister
name = Antonio Fazio

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order = Governor of Banca d'Italia
term_start = April 28, 1993
term_end = December 19, 2005
predecessor = Carlo Azeglio Ciampi
successor = Mario Draghi
birth_date = Birth date and age|1936|10|11|df=y
birth_place = Alvito, Italy
nationality = Italian
alma_mater =
profession =
children =
spouse =
residence =

Antonio Fazio (born October 11, 1936 in Alvito, province of Frosinone) is an Italian banker, who was the Governor of Banca d'Italia from 1993 until his resignation amidst controversy at the end of 2005.

He is reported to be very religious, and close to the Vatican. He has five children. The youngest of his daughters has been consecrated to the order of Legionaries of Christ, a lay religious organization (some newspapers reported incorrectly she was becoming a nun).

Career

In 1993, after his predecessor Carlo Azeglio Ciampi left office to become the Prime Minister of Italy, he became governor of the Bank of Italy. Some years after his appointment, it was said that he was interested in the leadership of the left-wing coalition to beat Berlusconi's right wing one. After Berlusconi won the 2001 general election, however, he came to be considered closer to the centre-right.

The Antonveneta affair

In 2005, Fazio came under heavy pressure to resign (which he eventually did) over his role in allegedly rigging the competition to take over an Italian bank, Banca Antonveneta, earlier in the year. Published excerpts of tapped telephone calls strongly suggest that Fazio favoured an Italian bid, probably in order to sabotage a sounder, foreign bid from Dutch bank ABN AMRO.

Reaction of the government

Silvio Berlusconi's government, itself in troubled times because of the utter defeat in the regional elections of April 2005, was accused of weakness for not kicking Fazio out of office. On September 21, 2005, economy minister Domenico Siniscalco resigned in protest against the lack of determination in the governmentref|siniscalco. The government maintained that it had no power to remove the governor of the central bank.

Investigations and resignation

Gianpiero Fiorani was arrested on December 14, 2005 for investigation of his role in the affair, and Fazio was officially put under investigation in Milan for insider trading on December 16ref|insider. He is also under investigation in Rome for having pressured the apparatus of the Bank of Italy to give green light to Fiorani's takeover of Antonveneta.

Although he had resisted calls to resign for months, these latest developments were the last straw, and Fazio stepped down on December 19, 2005ref|resignation. A new governor, Mario Draghi, was appointed on December 29, 2005.

References

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* [http://economist.com/agenda/displaystory.cfm?story_id=5326972 "Fazio shamed out of office at last"] , article from "The Economist" Global Agenda, December 19, 2005.