The sources told Reuters on condition of anonymity that three women are considered the main candidates to head the ECB’s Banking Supervision Council, with Germany’s Claudia Buch the clear front-runner.

The board oversees just over 100 of the eurozone’s biggest banks and is due to elect a new chairman to replace Andrea Enria, the current president of the ECB’s Banking Supervisory Board. His five-year term expires at the end of this year, at a time when a significant rise in interest rates is affecting banks’ business models.

Buch, the vice-president of the Bundesbank (Germany’s central bank), is the front-runner, but Margarita Delgado (Spain) and Sharon Donnery (Ireland) have also been mentioned for the leadership role, the sources said. They specify that a woman should be elected to fight the gender imbalance in the institution. 24 of the 26 members of the ECB’s Governing Council are men, while the balance on the Banking Supervisory Board is slightly better.

The three women are fully qualified for the job on their own merits, so gender will only be one factor in the decision. None of the women announced their intention to nominate their candidacy for the position of chairman of the Supervisory Board of banks.

The representative of the ECB did not want to comment on this information.

Buch, a former member of the German Council of Economic Experts, is the favorite because she has the backing of Germany, the eurozone’s largest economy, and has considerable experience at a major institution. She did limited work in the banking supervision segment, but was recently elected to the Supervisory Board of the Bundesbank.

Delgado, deputy governor of Spain’s central bank, is a senior watchdog with extensive experience in the field, but Madrid already holds the position of ECB vice-president, a problem as the EU wants more and more member states to hold it. important positions.

Donnery, deputy governor of the Central Bank of Ireland, has a reasonable chance, sources said. He was ignored five years ago when Henry was appointed, and Irish officials already hold several key financial posts.

The source said that Stefan Ingves, the former head of the Riksbank (Sweden’s central bank), may also run for the position of president of the Banking Supervisory Board.

The selection process has not begun and discussions are informal, but a formal announcement of the vacant position could be made in the fall, the sources said.

The new president of the Banking Supervisory Board is elected by the Governing Council of the ECB and will be officially appointed by the Council of the EU after approval by the European Parliament.