Nout Wellink

Nout Wellink (1943) was the President of the Dutch National Bank from 1997 to 2011. He reputedly strengthened the position of the Dutch central bank in monetary policy, both on the national and the European level, in the system of central banks of the euro area. In his long tenure he garnered much credit amongst his collegues, and he participated and chaired various high level international fora. He also played his part in the introduction of the euro in The Netherlands. Wellink, however, was also criticised for his perceived leniency in the aftermath of the Icesave-affair and in his role in the acquisition of ABN AMRO by other parties.

Wellink originally studied law, but developed an interest in economics, in which he obtained a doctorate. He was a civil servant most his life, working at the Ministry of Finance and, later, the Dutch central bank. Wellink is still quite active, lending his support and time to a number of organisations, most of which in the field of culture.

"It is a great pleasure for me to be able to introduce here today my friend and colleague Dr. Hans Tietmeyer, President of the Deutsche Bundesbank. It has been a very clever decision indeed to invite him to share his views with us. His long-ranging experience of economic and monetary policy issues makes him an excellent speaker on today’s subject.

Hans Tietmeyer has worked in the international financial arena for more than 35 years. Very few people have been so closely involved in the process of European economic and monetary integration, which culminated in the introduction of the euro three months ago. One could say that, but for Hans Tietmeyer, the European monetary landscape definitely would have looked different today. "