Board of Directors and Committee of Directors

Danmarks Nationalbank’s Board of Directors and Committee of Directors oversee that Danmarks Nationalbank complies with statutory requirements and meets the objectives set out in the Danmarks Nationalbank Act and the by-laws. The Board of Directors is Danmarks Nationalbank’s supreme decision-making authority.


It is essential that Danmarks Nationalbank is independent of the political system and cannot come under pressure from policymakers or individuals. To ensure its independence, Danmarks Nationalbank’s supreme decision-making authority is vested in a Board of Directors. The members of the Board of Directors are permanent secretaries appointed by the Minister for Industry, Business and Financial Affairs, MPs and representatives from the Danish corporate sector and organisations.

Danmarks Nationalbank’s Board of Directors appoints members of the Committee of Directors and two of the three Governors of the Board of Governors.

Division of responsibilities between Board of Directors and Committee of Directors

The Board of Directors usually meets once every three months to perform quarterly inspections, approve the financial statements and determine the framework for appointments and salaries, among other responsibilities. 

The Board of Directors also selects five of its 25 members to serve on Danmarks Nationalbank’s Committee of Directors, which usually meets ten times a year and so oversees Danmarks Nationalbank’s Board of Governors and employees even more closely. 

The Committee of Directors is charged with keeping informed of im-portant aspects of Danmarks Nationalbank’s activities, approving appointments of assistant governors and directors, overseeing that auditing is planned satisfactorily and reviewing Danmarks Nationalbank’s major exposures etc. 

The Committee of Directors selects the proposals and recommendations to be put to the vote at the meetings of the Board of Directors.

Appointment of members

On behalf of the government, the Minister for Industry, Business and Financial Affairs appoints two of the 25 members of the Board of Directors, and the Folketing (Danish Parliament) appoints eight members. The Board of Directors appoints the remaining 15 members on the basis of in-depth knowledge of business conditions and with the aim of ensuring geographical and professional diversity and representation of employees. 

Members of the Board of Directors are elected for five-year terms and may be re-elected only twice.

The Committee of Directors has seven members. The two members of the Board of Directors appointed by the Minister for Industry, Business and Financial Affairs are permanent members and are not elected.

The other five members of the Committee of Directors are elected by the Board of Directors from among its members. It is customary to elect two MPs among the five, representing the government and the opposition. Members of the Committee of Directors are elected for one-year terms.

Current members of the Board of Directors

As of 1 October 2023, the members of Danmarks Nationalbank’s Board of Directors are:

Chairman: Professor Christian Schultz

Deputy Chairman: Anne Hedensted Steffensen, Managing Director

Elected by the Folketing 

Alex Ahrendtsen, MP

Lisbeth Bech-Nielsen, MP

Preben Bang Henriksen, MP

Samira Nawa, MP

Anne Paulin, MP

Torsten Schack Pedersen, MP

Jesper Petersen, MP

Linea Søgaard-Lidell, MP

Appointed by the Minister for Industry, Business and Financial Affairs

Michael Dithmer, Permanent Secretary of State for Industry, Business and Financial Affairs
Johan Legarth, Permanent Secretary of State for Justice

Elected by the Board of Directors

Jens Bjørn Andersen, Managing Director

Connie Astrup-Larsen, CEO

Morten Skov Christiansen, President

Asger Enggaard, Managing Director

Kathrine Forsberg, Managing Director

Kristian Hundebøll, CEO

Claus Jensen, President

Marianne Lyngby Pedersen, Managing Director

Anja Philip, President

Elisa Rimpler, President

Philipp Schröder, Professor

Christian Schultz, Professor

Anne Hedensted Steffensen, Managing Director

Christian Woller, Managing Director

Gitte Pugholm Aabo, CEO

Christian Schultz

Chairman of Danmarks Nationalbank’s Board of Directors and Committee of Directors 2018-

Age

Born 17 June 1957

Family

Lives with his partner Merete Hytting. Two children (1983, 1986)

Education

Master of Science (Economics) (cand.polit), University of Copenhagen, 1984
PhD, University of Copenhagen, 1987

Employment

PhD student, Department of Economics, University of Copenhagen, 1984-87
Postdoc, Department of Economics, University of Copenhagen, 1987-89
Associate Professor, Department of Economics, University of Copenhagen, 1989-95
Professor of Economics, Department of Economics, University of Copenhagen, 1995-
Head of Department, Department of Economics, University of Copenhagen, 2010-

Committees, boards etc.

Member of the Danish Competition Council, 2001-
(Chair 2012-)
Member of Danmarks Nationalbank’s Board of Directors, 2014-
(Deputy Chairman 2015-2018, Chairman 2018-)
Member of Danmarks Nationalbank’s Committee of Directors, 2017-
(Chairman 2018-)

Current members of the Committee of Directors

As of 1 October 2023, the members of Danmarks Nationalbank’s Committee of Directors are:

Chairman: Professor Christian Schultz

Deputy Chairman: Michael Dithmer, Permanent Secretary of State for Industry, Business and Financial Affairs

Elected by the Board of Directors

Kristian Hundebøll, CEO

Anne Paulin, MP

Torsten Schack Pedersen, MP

Elisa Rimpler, President

Professor Christian Schultz

Appointed by the Minister for Industry, Business and Financial Affairs

Michael Dithmer, Permanent Secretary of State for Industry, Business and Financial Affairs

Johan Legarth, Permanent Secretary of State for Justice