Axel A. Weber

Axel Alfred Weber ( Axel A. Weber, born March 8, 1957 in Kusel ) is a German economist. He was on 30 April 2004 to 30 April 2011 as president of the Bundesbank one of the key figures in the bank bailouts during the euro crisis, as the threat of a breakup of the European Monetary Union threatened.

He's since 3 May 2012 The Board of President of the Swiss bank UBS.

Life

Training

From 1976 to Weber studied at the University of Konstanz, economics and administrative sciences, he graduated with a degree in economics in 1982. He then spent six years at the University of Siegen and a doctorate rer at this time to Dr.. pol.

University Professor

After his habilitation in 1994 at the University of Siegen, he accepted a Chair of Economic Theory at the University of Bonn. In 1998 he moved to the Johann Wolfgang Goethe University Frankfurt am Main. Since 2001 he held a chair for international economics at the University of Cologne and from 2002 to 2004 Member of the Advisory Council on the Assessment of Overall Economic Development (Council of Economic Experts ).

Weber was also director of the Center for Financial Studies in Frankfurt am Main; From October 2002 he was a member of the Scientific Advisory Board of the Deutsche Bundesbank. Axel Weber is a member of the University Council of the Johann Wolfgang Goethe University in Frankfurt am Main and the University of Siegen.

President of the Deutsche Bundesbank

In April 2004, the nonpartisan Weber was appointed on the proposal of Finance Minister Hans Eichel as successor to the retiring Ernst Welteke as the new President of the Deutsche Bundesbank. The choice came to the public with a positive response, among others, representatives of industry and opposition politicians. With his appointment as President of the Bundesbank Weber resigned from the Advisory Council, as the members of the Council none ( legislative ) body of the Federation or the civil service (except university teachers, research institute ) may not belong.

Role in the banking crisis

After the crisis in the U.S. subprime market began a banking and financial crisis in the summer of 2007. Even on 2 August 2007, three days after becoming aware of the massive problems at IKB German industrial bank, the Federal Reserve was to publish the following "statement" of him as a " press release ":

But Weber was later criticized from many sides. De facto began a series of " bailouts " German banks, the German industrial bank IKB, Sachsen LB, WestLB, Hypo Real Estate ( HRE) and Commerzbank.

In February 2011, Weber said, with effect from 30 April 2011 -, one year before the end of his term in office - to resign. His successor as Federal Reserve Chairman Jens Weidmann was. This step was taken in the middle of poker, to succeed the outgoing ECB President Jean -Claude Trichet. Until then, Weber long time unofficially as Chancellor Angela Merkel's candidate for the succession of the ECB President. Instead Weber was the former vice president of Goldman Sachs, Mario Draghi, on the train, who succeeded Trichet in November 2011 as ECB president. The reasons for the sudden resignation Webers were not known to the public.

In December 2013 Weber said in an interview time there had been for his resignation only one reason he not have been satisfied with the new monetary policy in Europe and he would then decisions must represent them in public, although he had not kept them fit. At the same time called ECB President Draghi in a Spiegel interview the German concerns about the consequences of the Euro - bailout policy " perverse fear."

Another career

Weber taught and researched for initially one year as a visiting professor at the University of Chicago.

On May 3, 2012, he was elected President of the Board of the Swiss bank UBS, he broke from Kaspar Villiger. He received a signing bonus of just over four million francs in cash and shares. His predecessor, Kaspar Villiger said the payment had something to do with the fact that Weber had waived the usual in Switzerland payment for retirement " in many millions of dollars " and was ready for a not usual in Germany one year contract.

End of November 2013 it was announced that Axel Weber, board member of the newly formed lobby group of UBS and Credit Suisse under the name Swiss Finance Council ( SFC) was, which is present with an office in Brussels.

Awards

• 2007 Honorary Doctorate of the University of Duisburg -Essen for his contributions to the empirical economic research to the internationalization of economic policy research and to the scientific policy advice.
• 2009 honorary doctorate from the University of Konstanz.