Biographical note: René Smits

René SmitsProfessor emeritus Dr René Smits is a consultant on EMU law, banking regulation and financial sector legislation, and sustainable finance. He was a part-time professor of the law of the Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) at the University of Amsterdam, where he still teaches a course on central banks and their accountability in the Master Law & Finance. He is a Member of the Administrative Board of Review (ABoR), the independent review panel for the ECB's supervisory decisions. He is an Expert on the Panel of Recognized International Market Experts in Finance (P.R.I.M.E. Finance).
Professor Smits has been the General Counsel of the Netherlands Central Bank (DNB), where he worked for 24 years. From 2001 until 2014, he worked at the NMa (Netherlands Competition Authority) and its successor ACM (Authority for Consumers & Markets), in multiple capacities: Head of the Legal Department, Chief Legal Counsel to the Board, Compliance Officer and Complaints Officer. From 2013-2022, he has been an assessor in the Belgian Competition Authority's Competition College.