A graduate (1963) in law from the University of Rome "La Sapienza", he is a lawyer and the owner of a law firm with offices in Rome, Milan, Bologna, and Lugano, as well as a professor of tax law at La Sapienza and the LUISS Guido Carli. The Minister of Finance from January 1995 to May 1996 in Prime Minister Lamberto Dini’s Cabinet where for several months he also held the offices of Minister of the Budget and Economic Planning and Minister for the Coordination of E.U. Policies he was subsequently the Minister of Foreign Trade in Prime Minister Romano Prodi’s Cabinet (from May 1996 to October 1998). A member of the Chamber of Deputies in the thirteenth legislature (from May 1996 to May 2001), he was chairman of the Budget, Treasury, and Economic Planning Committee (from September 1999). He has been vice-president of the Finance Council, president of the Ascotributi, and a member of the Consulta of Vatican City. A former chairman of the technical committee of the International Fiscal Association, he is the author of numerous publications and has been a member of the editorial board of Italian and international law reviews. He has also been on the board of directors of numerous companies, including the Benetton Group, Lloyd Adriatico, and Citinvest, and since July 2005 has been chairman of the board of directors of Banca Antonveneta. He has been a director of Enel since May 2005.