Jean-Claude Trichet Keynote Speaker

Jean-Claude Trichet was elected Chairman of the French Academy of Moral and Political Sciences (2023). He is former European Chairman of the Trilateral Commission and honorary Chairman of the Bruegel Institute (Brussels). He is Special Advisor of the Systemic Risk Council (Washington) and honorary Chairman of the G30 (Washington).

Jean-Claude Trichet worked in the private sector from 1966 to 1968. After completing his studies at the École Nationale d’Administration (ENA), he was appointed to the Inspection générale des Finances in 1971. He held various posts at the Ministry of Finance, first in the General Inspectorate of Finance and later in the Treasury Department. In 1976, he became Secretary General of the Interministerial Committee for Improving Industrial Structures (CIASI).

In 1978, he became an adviser to the cabinet of the Minister of Economic Affairs, and later that same year an adviser to the President of the Republic, Valéry Giscard d’Estaing. In this role, he worked on energy, industry, research, and microeconomic issues from 1978 to 1981.

He then served as Deputy Director of Bilateral Affairs at the Treasury Department (1981–1984) and later as Head of International Affairs. From 1985 to 1993, he was Chairman of the Paris Club (sovereign debt rescheduling).

In 1986, he headed the Private Office of the Minister of Economic Affairs, Finance and Privatisation (Édouard Balladur). In 1987, he became Director of the Treasury. That same year, he was appointed Censor of the General Council of the Banque de France and Alternate Governor at the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.

He served as Chairman of the European Monetary Committee from 1992 until 1993, when he was appointed Governor of the Banque de France. From 1994, he chaired the Monetary Policy Council of the Banque de France and was a member of the Council of the European Monetary Institute (1994–1998), followed by membership of the Governing Council of the European Central Bank. At the end of his first term as Governor, he was reappointed for a second term.

He played a key role in implementing the French strategy of “competitive disinflation” in the 1980s and 1990s as Director of the Treasury and Governor of the Banque de France. He also launched the concept of “Principles for stable capital flows and fair debt restructuring” in international debt strategy at the end of the 1990s.

Jean-Claude Trichet was elected Chairman of the Group of Ten (G10) Governors on 29 June 2003. He later became President of the Global Economy Meeting of central bank governors and President of the Group of Governors and Heads of Supervision (GHOS) in Basel (until October 2011).

He was appointed President of the European Central Bank on 16 October 2003, serving an eight-year term from 1 November 2003 to 31 October 2011. From late 2010 to October 2011, he also served as Chairman of the European Systemic Risk Board (ESRB).

After his ECB tenure, he was President of Sogepa (2012–2013) and Director of Airbus Group (2012–2018).

Jean-Claude Trichet was named Person of the Year by the Financial Times in 2007 and was listed among the “Fifty faces that shaped the decade” in 2009. He was twice named “Policy Maker of the Year” by The International Economy Magazine (1991 and 2007). In 2008, he ranked #5 in both Newsweek’s “World’s Most Powerful” and Institutional Investor’s “Most Powerful Figures in Finance.” In 2011, he was listed among Time Magazine’s “Most Influential People in the World.”