The Blackrock top executive and Swiss former central banker failed to garner enough support for his bid to succeed Angel Gurría at the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.
Philipp Hildebrand is withdrawing his candidacy to become general secretary of the supranational policymaking body. «I regret that I was unable to gather the broad support the next secretary-general will need to be a strong and effective leader,» Hildebrand wrote on a Twitter account set up for his OECD bid, launched four months ago.
Earlier today, I informed the Dean of the #OECD Council that I would like to withdraw my candidacy to become the next Secretary-General of the OECD. I would like to thank the Swiss Federal Council for its endorsement and all the countries that supported me. pic.twitter.com/4etYSjMiyF
— hildebrand4oecd (@hildebrand4oecd) February 25, 2021
The OECD would have been an ideal next chapter for the 57-year-old Swiss banker, who left the Swiss National Bank's three-person governing board in 2012 following a currency trading scandal involving his now-former wife. Hildebrand subsequently joined Blackrock as a vice-chairman later that year.
Narrowing Field
He had made fighting climate change a key pillar of his campaign, which had been supported by the Swiss government. «At Blackrock I will continue to pursue these same objectives on behalf of our clients as the world faces the dual challenge of a global pandemic and a fundamental transformation of the economy driven principally by climate change and technology,» he said.
His retreat leaves a narrow field at the OECD in the search process, due to end next month with the replacement for Angel Gurría to take over in June. Hildebrand is outlasted by two former European Commissioners – Cecilia Malmstrom and Anna Diamantopoulou – and Mathias Cormann, a former Australian finance minister.
Swiss Banking Return?
Hildebrand, who began his career at hedge fund Moore Capital, is a policy veteran and remains an insider, even after eight years in the private sector. He was deputy head of the Financial Stability Board, board member at the Bank for International Settlements, governor at the International Monetary Fund, and led an OECD working group during his central banking career.
He is continually touted as a potential successor to chair either major Swiss bank. However, Hildebrand's partner, Margarita Louis-Dreyfus, maintains extensive ties to Credit Suisse through Dreyfus, the commodity trader she controls. The Swiss bank proposed António Horta-Osório to replace long-standing overseer Urs Rohner, three months ago. At UBS, Chairman Axel Weber is due to depart in 14 months.
