© Bob van Deurzen
Professor of Law | European Monetary Union | Consultant
prof. dr. René Smits
Professor René Smits is law professor at the University of Amsterdam and consultant. His field of law is the Economic and Monetary Union (EMU).
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Employability:
Consultancy,Facilitator,Keynote Speaker,Workshopf
Employability:
Consultancy,Facilitator,Keynote Speaker,Workshop,
About René Smits
Professor René Smits is law professor at the University of Amsterdam and consultant. His field of law is the Economic and Monetary Union (EMU). As a consultant, René Smits gives legal and strategic advice on EMU and on financial sector regulation and supervision.
In 2013, René Smits was appointed one of the assessors (co-decision maker in respect of rulings on infringements and mergers) at the Belgian Competition Authority. Since 2014, he has been an Alternate Member of the Administrative Board of Review, the body of independent outsiders entrusted with administrative review of the supervisory decisions of the European Central Bank.
At De Nederlandsche Bank N.V. (DNB, the Dutch central bank), René Smits held positions in banking supervision. For twelve years, he was legal advisor to the Executive Board (General Counsel) and Head of the Legal Department. In that capacity, René Smits was responsible for input into EU directives on banking supervision and for the preparations of EMU. Whilst at DNB, he was a member of the Legal Committee of the European System of Central Banks (LEGCO). At the Netherlands Competition Authority (Nederlandse Mededingingautoriteit, NMa) René Smits was Director of the Legal Department and, subsequently, Chief Legal Counsel.
From 1 April 2013 until 1 March 2014, he was a strategic advisor at Legal Affairs at the Authority Consumers & Markets (Autoriteit Consument & Markt, or ACM), the successor to NMa. At NMa (ACM), René Smits worked on fining policy, private enforcement of competition law, and the relationship between competition and sustainability. As compliance officer, he also was responsible for maintaining the integrity of the enforcement agency.
René Smits is a member of the Committee on International Monetary Law of the International Law Association and an expert at P.R.I.M.E. Finance, an organization for dispute resolution and advice in the financial sector. He regularly gives presentations and lectures. From 2002-2013, he has been co-organizer and chairman of an annually recurring seminar for central bank lawyers in Cambridge (UK).
René Smits has numerous publications to his name, inter alia on European monetary law, banking supervision and the institutional design of the European System of Central Banks His thesis The European Central Bank – Institutional Aspects (Kluwer Law International, 1997) discusses the ECB from a legal perspective.. René Smits (1954) studied sociology and law at the Free University in Amsterdam. His interest in interreligious and intercultural dialogue is reflected in a publication that he edited: Islamic banking and the influence of religion on the law (Eleven International Publishing, 2012).
In 2020 René Smits won the award of Lecturer of the Year 2020 at the Faculty of Law of the University of Amsterdam. Students appreciate his lectures for the creative way in which everyone is involved.
Specialist Subjects
''Jaco has a real talent to read the culture of the company and the atmosphere between the participants.''
Our goal was to create a Belvedere Collective from all the different brand managers and other key brand stakeholders around the globe during a 3 days Belvedere Immersion in Warsaw. The tactics Jaco used to bring the individuals together from the beginning were highly efficient and very engaging for all. Literally in a few hours the base for establishing the Collective was created. The inspiration of Jaco his personal dream has been superb which resulted in highly motivated participants during the team workshop activities. Jaco has a real talent to read the culture of the company and the atmosphere between the participants, which are absolutely key succeeding with the set goals related to the Belvedere Immersion. Besides leaving the group inspired and succeeded to establish the Belvedere Collective, Jaco has made 38 new friends, which showcase how good he is to connect with each individual. Still nowadays when I visit different countries, brand managers participated asks about him and tells how inspired they have been about his dream and capabilities to present and lead a group towards their goals. Obviously I highly recommend Jaco to each profit and non-profit organisation in order to inspire many more people and children. Na zdrowie Jaco!
References
Neil Courtis
I collaborated with René Smits for 6 years when he chaired and co-produced a seminar for legal experts from central banks (one of a range of a dozen annual seminars I helped to produce at Central Banking Publications). René's chairmanship was consistently rated as outstanding in feedback (average satisfaction scores of 9/10 or greater). When we did a multi-year analysis he was the overall second highest-rated speaker or chairmen over a five-year period out of more than 100 internationally-eminent chairmen and presenters. On a more statistically robust analysis I think he would have been the top rated.. He chairs meetings with energy and diplomacy (as well of course as deep expertise in the subject area) and went far beyond the call of duty to ensure delegates had a good experience. He is particularly skilled at bringing together disparate groups. I recommend him without hesitation as a meeting chairman.