Alexandre, Baron Lamfalussy (; 26 April 1929 – 9 May 2015) was a Hungarian-born Belgian economist who served as President of the European Monetary Institute (EMI) from 1994 to 1997, which was the forerunner to the

European Central Bank The European Central Bank (ECB) is the prime component of the monetary Eurosystem and the European System of Central Banks (ESCB) as well as one of seven institutions of the European Union. It is one of the world's most important centr ...

(ECB). Born in

Kapuvár Kapuvár (; german: Kobrunn) is a small but ancient town of some 11,000 inhabitants in Győr-Moson-Sopron county, Hungary. The town is known for its thermal water which some believe has hydrotherapy, hydrotherapeutic properties. It is served by ...

, Hungary, Lamfalussy left his native country in 1949. He studied at the Catholic University of Leuven and

Nuffield College, Oxford Nuffield College () is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. It is a graduate college and specialises in the social sciences, particularly economics, politics and sociology. Nuffield is one of Oxford's newer c ...

, where he received his doctorate in economics. He later taught at the University of Louvain (UCLouvain) and

Yale Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wor ...

. In 1963 he was among the founders of SUERF – an association originally set up as a group to promote financial research among academics, and served as the Association's first Honorary Treasurer. In honour of his contribution to European monetary and financial issues, he was made an honorary member of SUERF at the association's 40th anniversary meeting held at the Banque de France in Paris. From 1976 he was an economic adviser to the Bank for International Settlements in

Basel , french: link=no, Bâlois(e), it, Basilese , neighboring_municipalities= Allschwil (BL), Hégenheim (FR-68), Binningen (BL), Birsfelden (BL), Bottmingen (BL), Huningue (FR-68), Münchenstein (BL), Muttenz (BL), Reinach (BL), Riehen (BS ...

and held the post of assistant general manager from 1981 to 1985. He was then general director of the bank, where he remained until 1993. From 1994 to 1997 he was founding president of the European Monetary Institute in

Frankfurt Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , " Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on it ...

, forerunner to the

. From 2000 to 2001 he chaired the Committee of Wise Men on the Regulation of European Securities Markets, whose proposals were adopted by the

Council of the European Union The Council of the European Union, often referred to in the treaties and other official documents simply as the Council, and informally known as the Council of Ministers, is the third of the seven Institutions of the European Union (EU) as ...

in March 2001. As chair of the committee, he oversaw the creation of the

Lamfalussy process The Lamfalussy process is an approach to the development of financial service industry regulations used by the European Union. Originally developed in March 2001, the process is named after the chair of the EU advisory committee that created it, ...

, an approach to the development of financial service industry regulation used most famously in MiFID - the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive. In 2013 he was decorated with Hungary's highest decoration, the Hungarian Order of Saint Stephen. He died on 9 May 2015 in Ottignies, Belgium.

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* , - 1929 births 2015 deaths Alumni of Nuffield College, Oxford Knights Commander of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Belgian economists Hungarian economists {{Belgium-economist-stub