ECB Jobs Race Jolted by Shock Exit of Euro-Area Finance Chief

An unexpected vacancy at the top of the Eurogroup is scrambling the already complex task of replacing two thirds of the European Central Bank’s upper echelon over the next two years.

The departure of Irish Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe, who had led meetings of his euro-area peers for more than five years, leaves his colleagues with another job to fill just after they kicked off the search for a successor of ECB Vice President Luis de Guindos, whose term ends in May.