Lagarde's ECB Nomination Big Milestone for Women in Economics

(Bloomberg) -- Christine Lagarde's appointment to the helm of the European Central Bank marks a poignant moment for the woman who fought for years to loosen the male grip on its leadership.

“It's great -- about time,” said Sharon Bowles, a former senior lawmaker in the European Parliament, when asked about the nomination of the International Monetary Fund chief. “It's 10 years since we started campaigning” for this, she said by phone, in audibly good humor.

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Scrutinizing appointments as chair of the Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee, Bowles led a revolt against a consistent flow of male nominations to the six-member ECB's Executive board. That culminated in a 2012 standoff where lawmakers held up the appointment of Yves Mersch for half a year. Euro-region governments subsequently named Sabine Lautenschlaeger to the board, where she has remained the only woman until now.

Bowles, who is British and currently a lawmaker in the House of Lords, also applied to become governor of the Bank of England to encourage women to step forward, citing the example of Lagarde as an inspiration.

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Not long after her arrival in Frankfurt this year, Lagarde will be joined by a successor to ECB markets chief Benoit Coeure. That's another opportunity to fix diversity on the Executive Board, which fosters better decision-making, according to Bowles.

“Now we just need more on the board,” she said. “It's no good to have Christine surrounded by men -- we want gender balance all the way through.”

To contact the reporter on this story: Catherine Bosley in Zurich at cbosley1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Fergal O'Brien at fobrien@bloomberg.net, Craig Stirling, Andrew Atkinson

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