The official site of Italy's central bank

Umberto Proia (Secretary General)

Born in Rome on 19 October 1951; married with one child.

He received an honours degree in Law from the "La Sapienza" University of Rome in March 1975 and then specialized in civil and commercial law before entering into practice. He is an official auditor.

After completing military service, in 1977 he joined the Bank of Italy and was assigned to the Banking Supervision Office of the Ferrara Branch. Two years later he was transferred to the Supervision Inspectorate at Head Office in Rome, where he progressed through the various career grades. Over the years he conducted numerous inspections, for the most part as team leader, investigating some of the country's largest banks and several major crises. He was also actively involved in the validation of advanced risk measurement models under the Basel II agreement.

He has represented the Bank and provided advisory services on numerous occasions, both in Italy and abroad, working with the judicial authorities and with the anti-mafia investigative branch. He has led working parties and training sessions, developed projects for the reform of the national payment system, and compiled the official guide to bank supervisory inspections.

In 2006 he was appointed acting Head of the Supervision Inspectorate, which he took over definitively in 2009.

On 16 May 2011 he was appointed Managing Director of the Property and Purchasing Area, where he was the driving force behind important rationalization initiatives in logistics, procurement activities and the management of the Bank's properties.

On 1 February 2012 he was nominated Secretary General of the Bank of Italy.

He is the author of numerous articles and studies on auditing.