ECB chief Draghi's advisor quits to go to AXA

One of European Central Bank president Mario Draghi's closest advisors, Christian Thimann, is quitting his job to go to French insurance giant AXA, a spokesman said Monday. Thimann, who was also an advisor to Draghi's predecessor Jean-Claude Trichet, will leave the ECB in January, a central bank spokesman told AFP, confirming a corresponding report to be published in the daily Die Welt on Tuesday. Thimann joined the ECB in 1998. The spokesman could not confirm which position he would be taking up at AXA, but Die Welt said the 47-year-old German national would join the insurer's executive committee. A selection process will be launched to replace Thimann, the spokesman added. "I want to thank Christian Thimann personally and on behalf of the ECB for his outstanding contribution to our work," Draghi said in a statement. "Throughout several years he advised the president and the executive board with high professional competence and integrity. We wish him all the best in his future challenges."