Axel Weber to Leave Bundesbank, Throwing ECB Race Open

Bundesbank President Axel Weber resigned, ending three days of confusion and opening the field for candidates from Finland to Italy to become the next chief of the European Central Bank.

Weber, 53, “expressed the wish to resign” and will leave office on April 30 with a successor to be named during the next week, Steffen Seibert, a German government spokesman, said today after Weber met in Berlin with Chancellor Angela Merkel. Weber is leaving for “personal reasons” after deciding to step down a year early on Feb. 8 and then being asked by Merkel to postpone the announcement, the Bundesbank said.