Interview with Het Financieele Dagblad Interview with Frank Elderson, Member of the Executive Board of the ECB, conducted by Annemiek Leclaire 8 May 2021 The job interview with René Smits started as soon as I had come through security at De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB). “Let’s take the stairs,” he said and began to race up two steps at a time, asking me the first questions on the way. It’s far easier to pose questions when you’re dashing upstairs than to answer them. By the time we arrived on the fourth floor I was out of breath. Smits had invited me for breakfast but I decided to have something at home first because I knew I wouldn’t manage to eat a bite.