Slovenia, Netherlands to compete for ECB board job

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Frank Elderson of the Netherlands and Bostjan Jazbec of Slovenia were the only two candidates put forward by their respective countries as candidates to succeed Yves Mersch at the executive board of the European Central Bank, an official said on Friday.

Mersch's 8-year term on the ECB's board ends in December along with his mandate as the deputy chair of the ECB's bank supervision arm.

"Today I received two applications: Frank Elderson on behalf of the Netherlands and Bostjan Jazbec on behalf of Slovenia," the chairman of euro zone finance ministers Paschal Donohoe said on Twitter.

Elderson has been an Executive Director of Supervision at the Dutch central bank since 2011 and Jazbec, a former Slovenian central bank governor, is now at the Single Resolution Board.

Euro zone officials said Elderson was a front runner, likely to get the required majority of votes when euro zone ministers choose one candidate with a simple majority, where each euro zone country has one vote, on Oct 5.

The candidate will then have a hearing in the European Parliament, which cannot block any candidacies, and be formally appointed by European Union leaders at their summit in December.

(This story corrects name in first paragraph to Elderson from Elderman)

(Reporting by Jan Strupczewski)