Brussels, 17/12/2012 (Agence Europe) - European banks have welcomed the agreement on the eurozone bank supervision system under the aegis of the ECB reached by the ECOFIN Council last week (see EUROPE 10751).
The European Banking Federation (EBF) welcomed the agreement as a good starting point for the supervision system and more integrated practices needed for a banking union. The ECF says the ECB must be given the ultimate responsibility over the 6,000 or so banks in the eurozone in order to guarantee financial security and fair rules for all layers. EBF director general Guido Ravoet sais the practical bank supervision measures on a daily basis seem sensible, but the ECB must be able to introduce new EU rules at any moment that would apply to participating banks and the bank must be able to intervene directly itself in the event of doubt about local supervision. The EBF says the voting rights decided upon for the European Banking Authority seemed do-able, adding that it was important to have a single body of rules across the single market.
These ideas were echoed by the European Savings Bank Group (ESBG), which welcomed the agreement whereby the ECB and national authorities would play an important role in the supervision network to restore confidence in European banks, explained ESBG chief François Pérol. The organisation highlights the importance of clear, detailed and proportionate mandates at all levels (ECB, the European bank supervision body and national supervisory bodies).
The European Association of Cooperative Banks (EACB) is pleased with the division of powers among national and European levels. Its director general, Herve Guider, said the difference between direct supervision by the ECB for too-big-to-fails and greater supervisory powers at national level for smaller banks, while enabling the ECB to have sufficient supervisory powers, strikes a good balance. (MB/transl.fl)