Overview
- The Council of Ministers deferred starting the formal nomination for a new Consob president during a brief meeting on January 20.
- Forza Italia objected to placing a sitting politician at the helm of an independent authority, interrupting plans that had centered on Federico Freni.
- Officials considered naming Freni as a commissioner rather than president before shelving the decision to review independence criteria and potential scrutiny by the Corte dei conti.
- Freni is a Lega undersecretary at the Economy Ministry with delegations over financial regulation and supervision, and he led the Capital Markets decree and work on the new consolidated financial law.
- The appointment process requires non-binding parliamentary opinions, a presidential decree and registration by the state auditor, a timeline that typically spans at least a month the government aims to complete before March 8.