Christine Lagarde has just been nominated to head up the European Central Bank. This is a pretty big deal because this nomination would mean a lot of things for a lot of people, possibly even for those who hold crypto.
Many people heard about Christine Lagarde because of her infamous snub and eye roll to Ivanka Trump at a recent summit.
But there’s so much more to learn from Christine Lagarde and what her appointment might mean for the ECB.
Le’ts find out more about Christine Lagarde and her potential appointment to the European Central Bank.
Christine Lagarde Early History
Lagarde was born in Paris, France and was raised by those who roamed in the realm of academics. Her father was an English Professor and her mother was a teacher of several different languages.
She graduated with he baccalaureate in 1973 and attended the Holton-Arms School shortly thereafter. Lagarde would move onto Paris West University Nanterre La Defense for legal studies. After completing her master’s program Lagarde would work as an associate at Baker & Mckenzie.
She worked within this firm on many significant cases and advanced to different coveted positions within the company.
Lagarde served at Baker McKenzie from 1981 to 2004.
Public Office
Lagarde moved on from the private sector to the public sector by becoming France’s Trade Minister in 2005. After serving as the Trade Minister for a short while, she would find herself in different roles prior to landing a role to take control of economic policy in France.
Lagarde transitioned from French public affairs to serving as the Managing Director and Chairman at the International Monetary Fund in 2011.
She would step into this role after the financial crisis of 2008, a time where financial instability was still present in a debt laden Europe (it still faces much of the same concerns).
Lagarde was convicted in 2016 of criminal negligence over a state arbitration payout to a close associate and friend of the former French President Sarkozy. She retained her position at the International Monetary Fund and will now likely serve as the leader of the European Central Bank.
Lagarde Views on Crypto
When asked about her views on crypto and the threats it may pose to the traditional banking system, Lagarde responded in a measured manner “I think you have incumbents, the banks, commercial banks and you have the disruptors and clearly the disruptors are having an effect on the incumbents”.
She also mentioned to CNBC, that the European Central Bank launched a system called TIPS that enables banks within the eurozone to transfer money at no costs between them.
Lagarde seems to be looking at the picture in regard to fintech and the evolution of banking.
The potential ECB head also stated that one must always take into account the concept of “trust and stability of the system“. As such, while she may be a proponent of technology and efficiency, similar governance structures and operations are likely to still be in play.
The nominee stated that forecful entrants into the banking system will still need “proper regulation to be fully trusted”.
It is likely to be business as usual with an eye toward more technical updates at the ECB if Lagarde does take the reigns.
