New year brings new OeNB top manager to Brussels

(, Vienna/Brussels)

Doris Rijnbeek will take over from Isabella Lindner as head of the OeNB’s Representative Office in Brussels

The Oesterreichische Nationalbank’s (OeNB) Brussels Representative Office at the Permanent Representation of Austria to the European Union will ring in 2023 with a big change at the top: Doris Rijnbeek, currently head of the OeNB's Risk Monitoring Division, will follow Isabella Lindner as head of the OeNB’s Representative Office in Brussels. Lindner is going to retire on December 31, 2022, after 7 years in this position. In the context of the official handover, the Permanent Representative of Austria to the EU, Ambassador Nikolaus Marschik, emphasized the importance of the OeNB’s Representative Office for the best possible flow of information and positioning within the European legislative process.

“For the Permanent Representation of Austria to the EU, it is crucial to stay up-to-date on current developments in monetary and fiscal policies. Over the last years, Isabella Lindner and her team have done an excellent job in providing much-needed, timely expertise in this area, especially during the Austrian Council Presidency in 2018,” said Ambassador Marschik, who welcomed Doris Rijnbeek in Brussels.

OeNB Governor Robert Holzmann, who was in Brussels at the same time to meet with EU Commissioners Johannes Hahn and Mairead McGuinness added, “We have mixed feelings about this day. On the one hand, we are sad to see Isabella Lindner leave the Representative Office. Over the years, her specialist expertise and her talent as an all-rounder have not only benefited the OeNB but also me personally. Her impressive know-how and experience stem from her nearly 30-year-long career, during which she closely witnessed the entire evolution of the euro area – from Austria’s accession to the EU and the introduction of the euro to the financial crises. 

On the other hand, we are happy to welcome the new head of the OeNB’s Representative Office in Brussels, Doris Rijnbeek, an extremely competent expert and long-term OeNB staff member. She gathered extensive work experience abroad in New York, London and Frankfurt and most recently, as head of the Risk Monitoring Division at the OeNB in Vienna. We are looking forward to working together and maintaining close ties between Vienna and Brussels.”

Since 2015, Isabella Lindner has been the Chief Representative of the Oesterreichische Nationalbank at the Permanent Representation of Austria to the EU. Her previous functions at the OeNB include deputy head of the European and International Affairs Division (2000-2015), advisor on EU affairs (1995-1997), financial attaché (1991-1994) and economist (1989-1991). At the Austrian Ministry of Finance, she served as chief advisor to the minister, working on international financial affairs and the introduction of the euro (1997-2000). Isabella Lindner was a member of the EU Economic Policy Committee (2001-2003) and the SCIMF (subcommittee for IMF and related issues) of the EU’s Economic and Financial Committee (EFC) (2003-2015). She has been an alternate member of the EFC since 2006 as well as chairwoman of the Euro Coins Subcommittee (ECSC) of the EFC since 2014. She holds a master’s degree in economics of the Vienna University of Economics and Business Administration as well as a postgraduate degree in international relations of the Johns Hopkins University, Bologna.

In 1994, Doris Rijnbeek, MBA, started her career path at the Oesterreichische Nationalbank, initially as a money market expert at the Treasury Department’s Front Office; later she became fixed income portfolio manager. She also held positions at the OeNB’s New York Representative Office and the Bank of England in London. For four years, she was the Chief Representative at the OeNB’s London Representative Office. As head of unit, Doris Rijnbeek was responsible for the implementation of monetary policy from 2007. In this role, she represented the OeNB on the ESCB’s Market Operations Committee (MOC), where she contributed to the creation of unconventional monetary policy measures and their implementation. Later, she was seconded to the European Central Bank as a senior economist in this field. In 2012, Doris Rijnbeek became deputy head of the Treasury’s Front Office. In 2015, she was appointed head of the Risk Management Division, where she managed the OeNB’s financial and nonfinancial risks. On January 1, 2023, Doris Rijnbeek will assume the position of Chief Representative of the OeNB’s Brussels Representative Office.