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René Smits

Visiting Professorial Fellow

Email: rs@renesmits.eu

Profile

René Smits is Professor of the Law of Economic and Monetary Union at the University of Amsterdam (NL) and Visiting Professorial Fellow at Centre for Commercial Law Studies (CCLS), Queen Mary University of London (QMUL). He is chief legal counsel of the Netherlands Competition Authority (NMa) in The Hague giving legal advice to the NMa's Board and its departments. He was formerly director of the authority's legal department and held several positions at De Nederlandsche Bank N.V. (DNB), the central bank of the Netherlands, in the legal field and of banking supervision. From 1989, he was DNB's general counsel responsible for legal advice on in-house corporate affairs as well as special central-bank related subjects, with a focus on EC banking directives, the IMF and economic and monetary union. He was also a member of LEGCO (ESCB).

René Smits is the author of numerous publications on EU monetary law and banking regulation and supervision and the institutional arrangements for central banking. He is also a consultant on EMU law, EU banking regulation and financial sector supervision and competition law. In September 2013, Professor Smits was appointed as an assessor in the Competition College of the Belgian Competition Authority. In September 2014, the ECB's Governing Council appointed him as an alternate member of the Administrative Board of Review, a review panel for the ECB's supervisory decisions.

Research

Publications

  • De Conventie van Lomé, economische en juridische aspecten (graduation paper on the ACP-EEC Convention of Lomé, legal and economic aspects),Free University, Amsterdam, September 1977(awarded ex aequo the 1979 François Prize of the Nederlandse Vereniging voor Internationaal Recht, the Netherlands Branch of the International Law Association)
  • De vestiging van ACS-onderdanen in de EG ("Establishment of ACP nationals in the EC") in Nederlands Juristenblad, 1978, pp. 858-860
  • Het Europees Monetair Stelsel ("The European Monetary System") in Student law review Ars Aequi, Volume 28, No 6 (June 1979), pp. 303-311
  • The Second Lomé Convention, an assessment with special reference to human rights in Legal issues of European integration 1980/2, pp. 47-74
  • De investeringsparagraaf in de nieuwe Overeenkomst van Lomé ("The investment clauses of the new Lomé Convention") in Sociaal-Economische Wetgeving, Volume 28, No 12 (December 1980), pp. 742-751, (An English version of this article is available)
  • De Akkoorden van Algiers, de Iraans-Amerikaanse regelingen van januari 1981 en hun uitvoering in Nederlands Juristenblad 1982, pp. 745-760, (An English version of this article on the 1980 US-Iranian Agreements of Algiers and their implementation is available)
  • Vereisten van Nederlander- en ingezetenschap voor commissarissen van NV's en BV's; een reactie ("Netherlands nationality and residence in the Netherlands required for board members? - a response") in Weekblad voor privaatrecht, notariaat en registratie (WPNR), Volume 113, No 5619, pp. 516-517 (A critical response to a proposal to introduce a requirement that at least 50% of the members of the 'supervisory board' (i.e. non-executive directors) of a Netherlands (public) limited company be citizens and residents of the Netherlands)
  • The implementation in the Netherlands of the EEC Directives on the Credit System in European Law Review, Volume 7, No 6 (December 1982), pp. 447-476 (This article is based on a report written for a University of Naples seminar in December 1981, the Italian translation of which (L'attuazione nei Paesi Bassi delle direttive comunitarie in materia di credito) was published in L'attuazione delle direttive CEE in materia creditizia, atti del convegno tenuto a Napoli il 10 e 11 dicembre 1981, Milan 1983, pp. 169-207)
  • Verslag van het 60e congres van de International Law Association ("An account of the 60th Conference of the International Law Association") in Nederlands Juristenblad 1983, pp. 280-283
  • NV Settlement Bank of the Netherlands, een bijzondere bank nader beschouwd ("NV Settlement Bank of the Netherlands, a closer look at an exceptional bank") in Bank- en effectenbedrijf 3-1983, pp. 92-93
  • Enige aspecten van de Amerikaans-Iraanse arbitrage in Den Haag ('Some aspects of the US-Iran arbitration at The Hague') in Tijdschrift voor Abritrage 1983, pp. 42-54
  • Some aspects of the monetary law of the European Community in Legal issues of European integration 1983/2, pp. 39-85 (The Spanish translation of an earlier version (Algunos aspectos del derecho monetario de la Comunidad Europea) appeared in Jurídica, the Yearbook of the Law Faculty of the Iberoamericana University in Mexico, D.F., No 16, 1984, pp. 131-169)
  • The end of claustrophobia: European Court requires free travel payments in European Law Review Volume 9, No 3, 1984, pp. 192-202 (A note to the European Court of Justice's judgement in the Luisi & Carbone Case on the freedom to provide services and the freedom to effect payments in the common market)
  • Verslag van de 61ste conferentie van de International Law Association ("An account of the 61st Conference of the International Law Association") in Nederlands Juristenblad 1984, pp. 1422-1424
  • A note to a decision by the President of the Rotterdam District Court of January 20, 1982 on the application of Article 48 of the EEC Treaty (on the free movement of workers) in Sociaal-Economische Wetgeving Volume 33, No 2, 1985, pp. 137-141
  • Bancaire dienstverlening over de grenzen: een Europees perspectief ("Cross-border provision of banking services: a European perspective") in Sociaal-Economische Wetgeving Volume 33, No 7/8, 1985, pp. 454-487 (A report for the 1985 annual meeting of the Nederlandse Vereniging voor Europees Recht/Association néerlandaise pour le droit européen)
  • Nationaliteit en ingezetenschap van de voorzitter van de Raad van Commissarissen: een (late) reactie ("Nationality and residence of the chairman of a company's supervisory board: a (late) reaction") in TVVS - maandblad voor ondernemingsrecht en rechtspersonen 1985/10, pp. 263-264
  • Bankgeheimnis und Bankauskunft nach niederländischem Recht in Hadding/Schneider (eds), Bankgeheimnis und Bankauskunft in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland und in ausländischen Rechtsordnungen, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin-Munich, 1986, pp. 185-226 (A contribution on banking secrecy and bankers' opinions under Netherlands law, published in a book edited by professors of the Institut für Internationales Kreditrecht at the Johannes Gutenberg-Universität in Mainz, Federal Republic of Germany) (A summary in English is available)
  • The international monetary system and development: general outlook on the legal issues in Detlev Chr. Dicke (ed.), Foreign Debts in the Present and a New International Economic Order University Press, Fribourg (Switzerland), 1986, pp. 74-96
  • Free movement of capital and payments: a further step on the road to liberalisation? in European Law Review Volume 11, No 5, pp. 456-465, (A note to the European Court of Justice's judgement in the Brugnoni & Ruffinengo Case on the free movement of capital)
  • Verslag van de 62e conferentie van de International Law Association ("An account of the 62nd Conference of the International Law Association"), co-authors Messrs Cuperus, Van Loon and De Waart, in Nederlands Juristenblad 1987, pp. 1194-1196
  • A review of prof. Herman Braeckmans' book on legal aspects of syndicated Eurocurrency credits (Juridische aspecten van consortiumkredieten in Eurodeviezen) in Rechtsgeleerd Magazijn Themis 1988/1, pp. 37-43
  • Rechtspersonen op het snijpunt van (internationaal) privaat- en publiekrecht ("Legal entities at the intersection of (international) private and public law"), a report with special emphasis on the Netherlands central bank, the International Red Cross and the International Tin Council, prepared for the Netherlands branch of the International Law Association (with a summary in English) in Mededelingen van de Nederlandse Vereniging voor Internationaal Recht, No 97, Kluwer, Deventer, 1988, pp. 77-195
  • Banking regulation in a European perspective in Legal issues of European integration 1989/1, pp. 61- 87 (This article is based on a presentation before the Conference on Banking and Financial Law organized in Leiden on November 11, 1988 by the Leiden Institute of Anglo-American Law and the Centre for Commercial Law Studies of Queen Mary College, University of London)
  • De bepalingen uit het verdrag van Maastricht over een Europese munt in 1999 ("The Maastricht Treaty provisions on a single currency in 1999") in Euridica Special 1992, pp. 3 - 6
  • Commentary on Articles 6, 103, 105, 106 and 107 of the EEC Treaty, in Groeben-Thiesing-Ehlermann (eds.), Kommentar zum EWG-Vertrag, 4th edition, Nomos, Baden-Baden, 1991, pp. 152-157; 3001-3022; 3026-3039, 3039-3061, 3061-3099
  • Co-editor of a report by a working group within the Nederlandse Vereniging voor Europees Recht/Association néerlandaise pour le droit européen on financial services regulation in the Netherlands: The regulation of financial services in the Netherlands:a survey, in Sociaal-Economische Wetgeving Volume 40, No 4, 1992, pp. 216-255
  • Co-editor with Professor Martijn van Empel (University of Amsterdam) of Banking and EC Law: Commentary, published as a part of the Amsterdam Financial Series, a loose-leaf publication on financial services and EC law containing a commentary on EC banking supervision legislation, Kluwer Law International, Deventer 1992.
    Co-author of two chapters
    •  together with Patrick Pearson: Treaty provisions;
    • together with Marieke van den Berg and Patrick Pearson: Institutional Arrangements
  • Author of chapter 6 on Freedom of establishment and freedom to provide services under the Second Banking Directive
  • De monetaire unie van Maastricht - een overzicht van de Verdragsbepalingen inzake economische en monetaire unie ("The monetary union of Maastricht, a survey of the Treaty provisions on economic and monetary union") in Sociaal-Economische Wetgeving Volume 40, No 8/9, 1992, pp. 702-740
  • Economisch en monetair beleid, chapter B12 - on economic and monetary policy coordination - of a legal practioners' handbook on EC law Praktijkboek EG-recht loose-leaf, Kluwer, Deventer, 1992 (1993 update), pp. 1-132
  • A review of M. Moore's (eds.) book Financial Services in the New Europe: The Comparative Law Yearbook of International Business, Special Issue in Common Market Law Review No 30, 1993, pp. 878-880
  • Aspecten van de nieuwe Wet toezicht kredietwezen ("Aspects of the new Act on the Supervision of the Credit System") in Sociaal-Economische Wetgeving Volume 41 No 1, 1994, pp. 5-26
  • De externe bevoegdheden van de Gemeenschap onder de EMU ("External Community competences under Economic and Monetary Union"), in Externe bevoegdheden van de Europese Unie, acts of the XXIIIrd Asser Institute Colloquium on European Law, held on 10 September 1993, T.M.C. Asser Instituut, The Hague, 1993, pp. 63-98
  • Aspecten van de nieuwe Wet toezicht kredietwezen ("Aspects of the new Act on the Supervision of the Credit System") in Sociaal-Economische Wetgeving January 1994, Volume 41, No 1, pp. 5-26
  • A single currency for Europe and the Karlsruhe Court in Legal issues of European integration 1994/2, pp. 115-134
  • Economic Policy Coordination and the Freedom to Effect Financial Transactions in the European Community, chapter 5 A of European Economic and Monetary Union (chapter 5) in Robert C. Effros (ed.), Current Legal Issues Affecting Central Banks, Volume 3, International Monetary Fund, Washington, D.C., 1995, pp. 55-65
  • The Community and International Contexts in Banking supervision in the European Community - Institutional Aspects, Report of a Working Group of the ECU Institute, Éditions de l'Université de Bruxelles, Brussels, 1995, pp. 32-48
  • Comments on EMU external aspects in Jan A. Winter, Deirdre M. Curtin, Alfred E. Kellerman, Bruno de Witte (eds.) Reforming the Treaty on European Union - The Legal Debate - (Asser Institute Colloquium on European Law Session XXV, September 1995), Kluwer Law International, The Hague / Boston / London, 1996, pp. 318-322
  • The European Central Bank - Institutional Aspects in 45 International and Comparative Law Quarterly 1996, pp. 319-342
  • The European Community's Second Banking Directive chapter 6 in Robert C. Effros (ed.), Current Legal Issues Affecting Central Banks, Volume 4, International Monetary Fund, Washington, D.C., 1997 (pp. 83-103)
  • The European Central Bank - Institutional Aspects (thesis), Kluwer Law International, The Hague/London/Boston, 1997, 2000 reprint (638 pp)
  • Brief description of The European Central Bank - Institutional Aspects, in student law review Ars Aequi, Volume 46, No 6, 1997, pp. 469-473
  • De gevolgen voor de EMU, (Consequences of the Amsterdam European Council meeting for EMU) in De resultaten van de Europese Raad van Amsterdam, ("The outcome of the Amsterdam meeting of the European Council') Asser Round Table Session, held on 9 July 1997, T.M.C. Asser Instituut, The Hague, 1997, pp. 17-25
  • Economic and Monetary Union: Progress to Date and the IGC in Wybo P. Heere (ed.), Contemporary international law issues: new forms, new applications, Proceedings of the Fourth Hague Joint Conference, held in The Hague, 2-5 July 1997, (section on: The Intergovernmental Conference of the European Union), T.M.C. Asser Instituut, The Hague, 1997, pp. 249-259
  • Brief description of The European Central Bank - Institutional Aspects, in Economenblad, monthly of economists in the Netherlands, Volume 19, No 8, 1997, pp. 7 and 10
  • La monnaie unique: quelques réflexions sur sa préparation (editorial) in Cahiers de Droit Européen, Larcier, Brussels, Volume 33, nos. 5-6, 1997, pp. 523-530
  • Commentary on Articles 105, 109 and 109 M of the EC Treaty, and on Articles 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 17 to 24, and 25 of the Statute of the European System of Central Banks and the European Central Bank in Groeben-Thiesing- Ehlermann (eds.), Kommentar zum EU-/EG-Vertrag, 5th edition, Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft, Baden-Baden, 1997, pp. 3/152-3/179, 3/244-3/286, 3/532-3/567, 3/609-3/663
  • Freedom of payments and capital movements under EMU in Albrecht Weber (ed.), Währung und wirtschaft, Das Geld im Recht, Festschrift für Prof. Dr. Hugo J. Hahn zum 70. Geburtstag, Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft, Baden-Baden, 1997
  • Het begin van de muntunie: besluitvorming en regelgeving ("The start of the monetary union: decision-making and regulations") in Sociaal-Economische Wetgeving, Volume 46, No 1, January 1999, pp. 2-12
  • Banking supervision in the monetary union in Journal of International Banking Regulation, Volume 1, No 2, 1999, pp. 122-130 (Also published in De Nederlandsche Bank Reprint series under No 649. Also published in a reader on Financial Services and Financial Markets: Changes and Adjustments, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Leuven, 1999)
  • Together with Ron F. Luberti: Supervisory liability: an introduction to several legal systems and a case study in Mario Giovanoli & Gregor Heinrich (ed.) International Bank Insolvencies, Kluwer Law International, Boston/The Hague/London, 1999, pp. 363-380
  • The Euro five months young - an initial legal assessment in Euredia No 2, 1999, pp. 125-128
  • Le statut monétaire de l'euro in Luc Thévenoz/Marcel Fontaine (eds.), Colloque international/International Symposium, La monnaie unique et les pays tiers/The euro and non-participating countries Schulthess Juristische Medien SA, Zurich, 2000, pp. 41- 66
  • Together with Frank Elderson et alii: Legal Consequences of the Single Curency: National Report for the Netherlands (Report to the 2000 Helsinki Conference of the Fédération Internationale pour le Droit Européen) in Sociaal-Economische Wetgeving, Volume 48, No 4, 2000, pp. 122-132
  • Central Bank Independence and Accountability in the light of EMU in Mario Giovanoli (ed.) International Monetary Law, Issues for the New Millennium, Oxford University Press Inc., New York, 2000, pp. 245-266
  • Commentary to a report on legal aspects of the euro by M.E. Koppenol-Laforce and H.M.G. Denters, Juridische aspecten rond de euro in Mededelingen van de Nederlandse Vereniging voor Internationaal Recht No 122, 2001, pp. 3-11
  • EMU and the Court based on a lecture before the seminar on International Monetary and Financial Law in the New Millennium, the London Memorial Tribute to Sir Joseph and Ruth Gold, London 1  2 June 2001 published as: "International monetary and financial law in the new millennium" in Joseph J. and Andenas, Mads (eds.), in International monetary and financial law upon entering the new millennium - a tribute to Sir Joseph and Ruth Gold, Norton, London 2002, chapter 18, p. 475 - 494
  • A review on Chiara Zilioli and Martin Selmayr's book The Law of the European Bank, Oxford, Hart Publishing, 2001 in Common Market Law Review, No 39, 2002, pp. 429-430
  • A review of Stefan Tilch's book Europäische Zentralbank und Europäisches System der Zentralbanken, Europäische Hochschulschriften, Frankfurt am Main, Peter Lang, 2000 in Common Market Law Review, No 39, 2002, pp. 653-656
  • Changing legal basis of central banks in Central Banking (Quarterly Journal), Volume XII, No 4, 2002, pp. 88-95
  • The position of the European Central Bank in the European constitutional order inaugural address, Universiteit van Amsterdam, 4 June 2003 published under the title The European Central Bank in the European constitutional order by Eleven International Publishing, Utrecht, 2003.
  • European Central Bank and the Convention interview in Central Banking (Quarterly Journal), Volume XIV, No 1, August 2003, pp. 85-92
  • Four aspects of a single currency in Mélanges en l'honneur de Jean-Victor Louis 2 volumes, Éditions de l'Université de Bruxelles, Bruxelles, 2003, 2nd volume, pp. 325 - 348
  • Het Stabiliteits- en Groeipact nagekeken ("The Stability and Growth Pact reviewed") in SEW, Tijdschrift voor Europees en Economisch recht Volume 52, February 2004, pp. 50-57
  • Law of the Economic and Monetary Union, in Recueil des Cours de l'Académie de Droit international de la Haye, Volume 3001, Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, The Hague 2004, pp. 313-422.
  • Commentary on Articles 105 and 111 EC Treaty and Articles 2 - 4 and 6 ESCB Statute and, together with Christian Kroppenstedt, of Article 5 ESCB Statute, and, together with Georg Gruber, of Articles 21 - 24 ESCB Statute in von der Groeben - Schwarze (eds.), Kommentar zum EU-/EG-Vertrag, 6th edition, Nomos, Baden-Baden, 2004 Volume 3, pp. 110-137, 214-256, 390-394, 394-406, 406-410, 463-478
  • Het Europese Hof beslecht geschil over communautair toezicht op begrotingsdiscipline commentary on the decision of the European Court of Justice of 13 July 2004 in Case C-27/04 on the Excessive Deficit Procedure and the Stability and Growth Pact in Nederlands tijdschrift voor Europees recht Volume 10, No. 8/9, September 2004, pp. 221-227
  • Commentary on the decision of the European Court of Justice of 10 July 2003 in Case C-11/00 on the position of the European Central Bank (OLAF Case) in SEW, Tijdschrift voor Europees en Economisch recht Volume 52, December 2004, pp. 537-543
  • The European Competition Network: selected aspects in Legal Issues of Economic Integration 32 (2): 175-192, 2005
  • The European Constitution and EMU: an appraisal in Common Market Law Review 42: 425-468, 2005
  • The European Constitution and Economic and Monetary Union in Proceedings of the Workshop on 5 November 2004 entitled: A Constitutional Treaty for an Enlarged Europe: Institutional and Economic Implications for Economic and Monetary Union Proceedings of OeNB Workshops, No. 4, pp. 12-19 Oesterreichische Nationalbank, 2005.
  • The role of the ESCB in banking supervision in Legal Aspects of the European System of Central Banks Liber Amicorum Paolo Zamboni Garavelli ECB, 2005, pp. 199-212
  • On Parallel Trade and Preliminary Issues - a Healthy Approach to Competition Law Enforcement? (A note to the judgment of the European Court of Justice of 31 May 2005 in Case C-53/03, Syfait and Others v. GlaxoSmithKline plc and GlaxoSmithKline AEVE, not yet reported) in Legal issues of economic integration 33(1): 61-83, 2006
  • What is wrong with the Payment Services Directive? in: SPEED (Settlement . Payment . E-money & E-trading . Development) Volume 1, No. 3, Winter 2006-07, pp. 20-24
  • Some Reflections on Economic Policy in: Legal issues of economic integration 34(1): 5-25, 2007
  • Why London can't go it alone (a rebuttal to a contribution by David Lascelles in a previous issue of the publication arguing that the City should not be regulated by EU rules)
    in: The Financial Regulator Volume 11, No. 4, March 2007, pp. 21-25
  • The impact of EMU law on national budgetary freedom: An inquiry into the limits of State sovereignty in economic policy matters in: Interface between EU Law and National Law Dr. D. Obradovic and Dr. N. Lavranos (editors) University of Amsterdam, The Hogendorp Papers 7, Europa Law Publishing, 2006, pp. 131-168.
  • The European Central Bank and the Single Financial Market in the EU - SEPA, regulation and competition based on a presentation before a two-day seminar on "EU Financial Services Regulation completing the internal market", held at Queen Mary, University of London, on 26-27 October 2006 in: proceedings of the seminar (to be published 2007)
  • P.M Member (1988-1995) of the 'Groupe Système européen de banques centrales', a working group of lawyers chaired by Professor Jean-Victor Louis, formerly general counsel of the National Bank of Belgium. This group, which operated under the auspices of the Institut de l'Ecu (nowadays: Institut de l'euro) in Lyons, published
    • a proposal for the Statute of the European System of Central Banks: Vers un système européen de banques centrales: projet de dispositions organiques, Etudes Européennes, Éditions de l'Université de Bruxelles, Brussels, 1989.
    • a study on the institutional aspects of prudential supervision under Economic and Monetary Union: Banking Supervision in the European Community: Institutional Aspects, Etudes Européennes, Éditions de l'Université de Bruxelles, Brussels, 1995.