Hesse Appoints Fritzi Köhler-Geib to Bundesbank Board, Leaving One Vacancy Remaining on ECB’s Supervision Team

The Hessian state government has finally appointed a new board member for the Bundesbank. Fritzi Köhler-Geib, currently serving as chief economist at Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau (KfW) in Frankfurt am Main, will take over the vacant position on the board. Prime Minister Boris Rhein (CDU) was keen to appoint a politically independent woman to the role.

The Federal Council has the authority to propose Köhler-Geib’s appointment, but approval from the states is expected during an upcoming meeting. The delay in making this decision by Hesse was due to the change of government from black-green to black-red in January of this year.

Köhler-Geib is 46 years old and has been KfW’s chief economist since 2019. Prior to that, she worked for the World Bank. As chief economist, she provides research and analysis services at KfW with a focus on analyzing economic developments and growth trends in Germany.

With Köhler-Geib’s appointment, most of the vacancies on the Bundesbank Executive Board have been filled. Lutz Lienenkämper from North Rhine-Westphalia was nominated by the black-green state government last year and replaced two board members who left in 2020. However, Claudia Buch’s successor as head of banking supervision at ECB still needs to be decided after her departure in March 2021.