Accountability
As the lead authority for European banking supervision, we must be able to explain our supervisory decisions. A comprehensive accountability framework ensures these decisions are transparent, legitimate, independent and subject to appropriate scrutiny.
We are accountable for the way we carry out our supervisory tasks under the Single Supervisory Mechanism (SSM), the system of banking supervision in Europe.
Our accountability framework
Under Article 20 of the SSM Regulation, ECB Banking Supervision is accountable to the European Parliament, where the interests of EU citizens are represented, and to the Council of the EU, which represents the governments of all EU Member States, as well as through several other channels.
We attach great importance to maintaining and fully applying the accountability framework, which is set out in further detail in:
- an Interinstitutional Agreement between the European Parliament and the ECB
- a Memorandum of Understanding between the EU Council and the ECB
- a Memorandum of Understanding between the European Court of Auditors and the ECB
Over the years, we have broadened our interactions with the European Parliament beyond the requirements of the Interinstitutional Agreement, demonstrating our commitment to accountability.
Supervisory Board members’ declarations
Members of the Supervisory Board declare their interests on an annual basis. These declarations include information about their previous occupational activity, private activities, official mandates and financial interests, as well as information about any gainful occupational activity of their spouse or partner that could raise concerns of a conflict of interest.