Swedbank Estonia CEO Is on List of Candidates for ECB Position

(Bloomberg) -- The head of Swedbank’s Estonian unit Robert Kitt is among three nominees who are in the running to replace central bank chief Ardo Hansson as the Baltic nation’s voting member on the European Central Bank’s Governing Council.

The nominees, listed by the central bank’s eight-member supervisory board on Tuesday, also include deputy Governor Madis Muller and senior Finance Ministry official Marten Ross, according to an emailed statement. Hansson’s successor, who will start a seven-year term mid-year, must be backed by five board members and approved by President Kersti Kaljulaid.

"The supervisory board of the central bank will begin discussing the potential candidates at a meeting on Feb. 12," the central bank said in the statement.

Hansson’s replacement will step in as the country is dealing with the fallout of a $235 billion dirty-money scandal that has engulfed the country’s branch of Danske Bank A/S. Lawmakers this month proposed the central bank take a stronger role in money laundering oversight after hearings in parliament showed poor cooperation between police, prosecutors and the financial watchdog in probing transactions through Danske since 2009.

The Chicago-born and Harvard-educated Hansson, considered a relatively hawkish member of the Governing Council, can’t be re-elected when his term ends on June 6. He has rejected speculation about running for ECB president as he prefers to stay with his family in Estonia.

To contact the reporter on this story: Ott Ummelas in Tallinn at oummelas@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Andrea Dudik at adudik@bloomberg.net, Michael Winfrey

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