René Smits - Consulting -

Professor Dr René Smits has practised law for the past 30 years, first at the Dutch central bank and, then, at the Dutch competition authority. He has a broad command of legal issues, notably in the area of European Union law concerning the internal market, banking regulation, the euro and Economic and Monetary Union, and competition law. He is an authority on the European Central Bank.
Professor Smits has been a regular speaker on legal subjects and he has lectured in Amsterdam, London, Luxembourg, New York and Geneva. He chairs an annual law seminar for central bankers and financial supervisors at Cambridge (GB).
He has been the Netherlands central bank’s general counsel and the head of the Netherlands competition authority's legal department and is now chief legal counsel to the Dutch competiton authority´s Board. He is professor of the law of the Economic and Monetary Union at the University of Amsterdam (Jean Monnet Chair) and a Visiting Professorial Fellow at Queen Mary, University of London.
His main interests are the interaction of European integration with worldwide developments, inter-religious and inter-cultural dialogue and leadership development.
Professor Smits is uniquely qualified at the intersection of EU law on the internal market, banking regulation and competition law. With over 30 years of experience within the public domain, in regular interplay with private enterprise, he specialises in legal advice on EU regulation of the financial services industry.