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SBE Professor Steven Maijoor selected as first chair of ESMA

The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) announced on Thursday, 13 January the selection of Steven Maijoor, as the proposed first chair of ESMA. This follows a vote by ESMA’s Board of Supervisors. Before taking up his duties, the selected chairperson will be heard by the European Parliament who has up to one month to object to his designation.

The Chairperson represents ESMA, and is responsible for preparing the work of the Board of Supervisors and chairs the meetings of the Board of Supervisors and the Management Board. ESMA was set up on January 1 alongside the European Banking Authority and the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority in a bid to ensure financial supervision is consistent across Europe.

The full-time chair of ESMA will serve for a term of five years, based at ESMA’s headquarters in Paris. Steven Maijoor (46) is currently a director at the Netherlands Authority for the Financial Markets (AFM) where he is in charge of financial reporting, auditing issues, market integrity supervision and part of the business operations. Maijoor entered the service of the AFM in April 2004. Maijoor has also represented the AFM in various European and international fora, lately chairing the International Forum of Independent Audit Regulators (IFIAR).

Steven Maijoor is a part-time professor at both the Maastricht University and the VU University Amsterdam conducting research on issues such as reporting, audit and governance. From 2001 to 2004, he was Dean of the School of Business & Economics at Maastricht University.