Luis de Guindos is a Spanish economist who has served since June 2018 as Vice-President of the European Central Bank, where he contributes to monetary policy decisions and oversees banking supervision within the Eurosystem. He earlier held senior positions in the Spanish government, including Minister of Economy and Competitiveness from December 2011 to 2016 and Minister of Economy, Industry and Competitiveness from 2016 to 2018. He led structural reforms during this time to address the banking crisis and fiscal imbalances that stemmed from the global financial meltdown in 2008.

Mr de Guindos has worked in both the public and private sectors. He held roles in economic policy under the Partido Popular administrations in the late 1990s and early 2000s that included Director General for Economic Policy, and Secretary of State for Economic Affairs, after which he took executive positions in finance, notably as Chief Executive Officer for Iberia at Lehman Brothers from 2006 to 2008. He also worked at Nomura Securities and PricewaterhouseCoopers.

His tenure as economy minister is noted for his work in negotiating and implementing a financial sector assistance programme with European partners, recapitalising Spanish banks and averting a sovereign default, which helped Spain’s economy rebound through liberalisation of the labour market and fiscal consolidation measures. At the European Central Bank, Mr de Guindos has advocated for enhanced macroprudential frameworks and completion of the banking union to mitigate systemic risks, reflecting his experience in crisis management.