Finance Ministers in Dialogue: Rishi Sunak & Daniele Franco

Rishi Sunak

Chancellor of the Exchequer

Rishi Sunak was appointed Chancellor of the Exchequer in February 2020. He was previously Chief Secretary to the Treasury and Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government. Before entering politics in 2015, Rishi spent his professional career in business and finance, working internationally. He co-founded an investment firm working with companies from across the world. He then used that experience to help small and entrepreneurial British companies grow.

Daniele Franco

Minister of Economy and Finance for Italy

Daniele Franco was born in Trichiana (Belluno) on 7 June 1953. He has been Minister of Economy and Finance since 13 February 2021.

He graduated in Political Science from the University of Padua in 1977; he obtained a Master's degree in business organization from the Consorzio Universitario di Organizzazione Aziendale of Padua in 1978, and a Master of Science in Economics from the University of York, Great Britain, in 1979.

In the same year, he joined the Economic Research Department of Bank of Italy, where he worked until 1994. From 1994 to 1997 he was an Economic Advisor at the European Commission's Directorate General for Economic and Financial Affairs. Upon his return at the Bank of Italy, he was head of the Public Finance Division of the Economic Research Department from 1997 to 2007, head of Structural Economic Analysis Department from 2007 to 2011, Managing Director of the Economic Research and International Relations from 2011 to 2013.

From May 2013 to May 2019 he held the position of State Accountant General at Italy’s Ministry of Economy and Finance.

He was Deputy Governor of the Bank of Italy from May 2019 to December 2019, then Senior Deputy Governor from 1 January 2020 to 12 February 2021.

Over the course of his career, he has widely published and held lectures on public finance, social protection and income distribution, and has participated in committees and working groups at various national and international organizations.

Michael R. Bloomberg

Founder of Bloomberg L.P. and Bloomberg Philanthropies

Mike Bloomberg is an entrepreneur and three-term mayor of New York City whose innovations in business, government, and philanthropy have made him a pioneering leader on critical issues facing America and the world. He has launched major coalitions to save and improve lives, including America’s largest campaigns to prevent gun violence and fight the climate crisis, and he has championed efforts to fix our immigration system.

Elected mayor just weeks after the attacks of September 11, 2001, Bloomberg led New York City’s resurgence. He spearheaded the rebuilding of Lower Manhattan, fought poverty with new programs that became national models, and turned around a failing school system. Bloomberg reduced carbon emissions by 13 percent, increased New Yorkers’ life expectancy by three years, and cut crime by a third while reducing incarceration by nearly 40 percent. Despite the national recession, he led the city to record job growth.

As mayor, Bloomberg launched a pandemic influenza plan for New York City, and led the city through outbreaks of the swine flu and West Nile virus. An international leader on public health issues, Bloomberg recently launched a series of efforts to help fight the coronavirus pandemic through his foundation, Bloomberg Philanthropies. He’s supporting a fund for New York City-based non-profits impacted by the crisis, convening mayors to share information and strategies, committing $40 million to help low- and middle-income countries slow and prevent the spread of the disease, and more.

After his third term in City Hall, he resumed leadership of Bloomberg LP, the financial technology and media company he founded in 1981. Bloomberg LP now employs some 20,000 people. Bloomberg Philanthropies applies a unique, data-driven approach to drive progress in five focus areas – public health, government innovation, education, the environment, and the arts. He has given away $9.5 billion.

Bloomberg grew up in a middle-class home in Medford, Massachusetts. He took out government loans and worked his way through school, graduating from Johns Hopkins University and Harvard Business School. He is the father of two daughters, Emma and Georgina, and has two grandchildren.

Constantin Cotzias

European Director

Bloomberg L.P.

Constantin M. Cotzias is European Director at Bloomberg L.P. and chair of Bloomberg London. He is Global Head of External Affairs. He is a Director of Bloomberg Tradebook and Bloomberg Multilateral Trading Facility. He sits on the Mayor of London Economic Advisory Board and the Prime Minister’s Business Advisory Council. He was previously CEO of Bloomberg’s legal and regulatory news and research division. He joined Bloomberg in 2001 as Chief Counsel.

Prior to Bloomberg, Cotzias was a senior mergers and acquisitions lawyer at Denton Wilde Sapte (presently known as Dentons), one of the United Kingdom’s largest law firms, where he advised on mergers, acquisitions, joint ventures, and IPOs across industries including media, telecoms, technology, and energy. From 1998-2000, he was Chief Counsel of Denton Wilde Sapte’s Moscow office. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Modern History and Politics and is a Law graduate from the London School of Economics (University of London). Cotzias earned honours in the English Law Society Final Examinations and is a solicitor of the Supreme Court of England and Wales.