This was stated by Deputy Prime Minister Antonio Tajani.
The outgoing president of Consob, Paolo Savona, 89, will complete his seven-year term at the beginning of March.
Treasury Undersecretary Federico Freni, a lawmaker from the League party like Economy Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti, is the main candidate to succeed Savona, but Tajani has been blocking his appointment for weeks.
"I believe that Consob, precisely because it is a guarantor and oversight body, must be led by a non-political figure, especially at this time and after all the events that have occurred in the banking world, the changes that have taken place, the controversies, the judicial investigations," the Forza Italia leader told Sky tg24.
Opposition parties have criticized the government for supporting the state-owned bank Monte dei Paschi di Siena's acquisition of rival Mediobanca.
Prosecutors in Milan are examining the acquisition to determine whether Mps CEO Luigi Lovaglio and the bank's two main investors acted in coordination, keeping watchdog authorities and other investors in the dark. All parties deny any wrongdoing.
Freni's supporters point out that Savona served as Minister for European Affairs in 2018 and 2019 before becoming Consob president, while the previous head of the watchdog authority, Giuseppe Vegas, had been Deputy Treasury Minister.
"The situation was completely different. None of this had happened, there were no ongoing judicial investigations," Tajani said regarding Vegas's presidency.
Stefano Di Stefano, who is also a senior Treasury official, resigned today from the Mps board of directors after being investigated for alleged insider trading.
Di Stefano is under investigation for purchasing shares of Mps and Mediobanca during the period of Mps's offer.
The government has also drawn the ire of major asset managers by promoting legislation that helped majority shareholders maintain tight control over listed companies, penalizing minority investors.
The International Corporate Governance Network, which represents investors with $90 trillion in assets under management, wrote a letter to Freni in December stating that the new rules "could undermine confidence in the Italian market."
(Editing by Stefano Bernabei)
