Cleared - to take off?

18 June 2003

The governor of the Banque de France has been acquitted of charges connected with the collapse of Credit Lyonnais. What a relief for everyone. Trichet is the right man to provide muchneeded continuity and credibility at the ECB.

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JeanClaude Trichet has been acquitted by a Paris court of complicity in accounting fraud at Credit Lyonnais. The decision should allow the governor of the Banque de France to proceed with his candidature to be President of the European Central Bank in succession to Wim Duisenberg.

Trichet was on trial with nine other defendants for "complicity in presenting false accounts and disseminating false information". As head of the French Treasury between 1991 and 1993, he was accused of having participated in disguising the massive losses of stateowned bank Credit Lyonnais. The bank's then chief executive, JeanYves Haberer, and two accountants were found guilty and fined and given suspended sentences. The remaining defendants, including other senior officials of the Treasury and Banque de France, were acquitted.

Under an agreement between the fifteen EU member states, the next President of the ECB is to be French. The French government let it be known after the court's verdict that Trichet will be its candidate. Formally, the appointment is subject to a vote of the heads of state and government of countries that have not opted out of the euro, acting on a recommendation of the ECOFIN council and the advice of the European Parliament.

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