Majority divided: the BoD postpones the appointment of the Consob chairman

The decision by the Council of Ministers on the start of the appointment procedure for the new chairman of Consob has reportedly been postponed. Economy Undersecretary Federico Freni, a Lega deputy, was, according to rumours on the eve of the meeting, the main candidate to succeed the current chairman of the National Commission for Companies and the Stock Exchange, whose term of office expires on 8 March. Freni is currently the League's under-secretary for the Economy in the Meloni government with responsibility for regulation, policies and supervision of the financial system, as well as financial interventions to support the economy.

At the head of the Italian financial market supervisory authority is currently Paolo Savona, whose term of office expires in March. The new chairman will remain in office for the next seven years. He will work with the other members of the board, two of whom were elected by executive Meloni; Federico Cornelli and Gabriella Alemanno. Carlo Comporti was appointed by the Draghi government in 2022, while Chiara Mosca's appointment is the oldest: it dates back to 2021. All commissioners, like the president, have a seven-year term of office.

It was Forza italia that expressed perplexity over Freni's appointment. With regard to the possible appointment of Undersecretary Freni as head of Consob, 'let's see, our party leader Antonio Tajani is in charge of this. I only point out that we have never been convinced by the appointment of a politician at Consob. We remain on this position,' said Forza Italia national spokesman Raffaele Nevi, a guest on Sky TG24's Start programme. 'In our opinion it is good that there, since these are very technical issues, there should be a technician, a high-level non-politician with great experience. It will be dealt with by the leaders in the coming hours. We are not naming names, there are many authoritative people who we think could do the best job, without taking anything away from Freni who is an extraordinary undersecretary at the Ministry of Finance and I think he is doing well. Consob must be treated in a completely different way,' he concluded.

Freni's appointment as Consob chairman seemed imminent. In the hours leading up to the Cdm, a political problem emerged within the majority. FI raised the first objections, with Raffaele Nevi pointing out in the morning that 'the appointment of a politician at Consob has never convinced' the Azzurri, and added that 'our party leader Antonio Tajani is in charge of this'. FdI's position was expressed by Marco Osnato, explaining that the Economy undersecretary 'is a person who has all the characteristics to carry out that role' at Consob 'but at the same time he is an important pawn in the Mef chessboard'. In between came the endorsement of League secretary Matteo Salvini: 'Freni has been a very good undersecretary of the economy, so I think he can do other roles with equal ability'. There is also support for Freni from Maurizio Lupi, the leader of Nm: 'Let's avoid prejudicial vetoes, especially at such a delicate time for the Italian economy, subject to the tensions of the international situation. Moreover, 'technicians' do not always prove to be better'. During the Council of Ministers, which lasted about twenty minutes, FI reportedly reiterated its position. In the discussion, executive sources report, there were those who, while not expressing preclusions against Freni, also raised the issue of the need to have an independent figure as president, also pointing out the risk of criticism of the appointment by the Court of Auditors. The hypothesis of Freni's appointment at Consob, but only as a 'component', was also considered. Then, it is learnt, the government decided to freeze the appointment, postponing the decision, also for in-depth studies on the independence requirement of the future chairman.