Publications on Banking supervision

The macroprudential framework developed in the aftermath of the global financial crisis has lived up to the promise of making the financial system more resilient. However, recent experience also suggests that there is room for improvement in its design and operation.

Most banks have made good progress in reducing their non-performing loans. However, some smaller banks are still burdened by significant amounts of these loans. To tackle this issue, the ECB and the national supervisors have developed a draft Guideline for public consultation.

We are taking concrete steps to streamline and simplify European banking supervision, while safeguarding the resilience we have worked so hard to build.

European banks have made forward strides in managing climate and nature-related risks. But more still needs to be done as we often see that practices are only applied to a subset of relevant exposures, geographic areas and risk categories. To help banks improve further, later this year the ECB will publish an updated set of good practices observed in banks across Europe. European banks are well positioned to meet the prudential transition plan requirements, which the ECB will approach in a gradual and tailored manner.

The integration of sanctions into the ECB’s escalation framework strengthens compliance, enhances supervisory effectiveness and acts as a deterrent against future violations.

Keynote speech by Pedro Machado, Member of the Supervisory Board of the ECB, at the 2025 Harvard Law School/PIFS Europe – US Symposium

Private capital markets are growing fast – and so are their links to banks. As complexity and leverage build up outside the regulatory perimeter, risk management of banks, transparency, and regulatory frameworks need to keep pace.

Maintaining adequate levels of capital allows banks to provide stable financial services to the real economy and absorb losses in difficult times. This is why European law sets minimum capital requirements that all banks must meet. But banks also face risks that are not covered by these Pillar 1 requirements. This blog post explains how the ECB addresses these risks through its Pillar 2 requirements, and how we are changing our approach to ensure that banks remain safe and sound in an evolving risk landscape.

Stress tests are of crucial importance to assess banks’ resilience under adverse economic conditions. In previous stress tests, however, some banks submitted overly optimistic projections. Despite thorough quality assurance by supervisors, this behaviour makes it more likely that the risks some banks face are underestimated. To address this, we are now taking a closer look at insufficiently prudent projection submissions. In line with our supervisory focus on banks’ risk data aggregation and reporting capabilities, we are also looking more closely at poor data quality issues in stress tests.

Our supervisory priorities for 2025-27 focus on strengthening banks’ ability to withstand macro-financial and geopolitical shocks, and on ensuring that banks remediate material and persistent shortcomings in a timely manner and address emerging challenges. In this blog post, we explain how these priorities will help European supervisors navigate the evolving risk landscape.

Speech by Frank Elderson, Member of the Executive Board of the ECB and Vice-Chair of the Supervisory Board of the ECB, at the tenth Green Finance Forum “Innovate in Nature”

Speech by Claudia Buch, Chair of the Supervisory Board of the ECB, at the event celebrating the tenth anniversary of the Single Supervisory Mechanism[1]

Keynote speech by Frank Elderson, Member of the Executive Board of the ECB and Vice-Chair of the Supervisory Board of the ECB at the “10 Years of SSM – Looking back and looking forward” conference organised by the European Banking Institute and the Hessisches Ministerium für Wissenschaft und Kunst

Speech by Elizabeth McCaul, Member of the Supervisory Board of the ECB, at the annual SCION Day 2024

Interview with Frank Elderson, Member of the Executive Board of the ECB and Vice-Chair of the Supervisory Board of the ECB, conducted by Miha Jenko

Keynote speech by Frank Elderson, Member of the Executive Board of the ECB and Vice-Chair of the Supervisory Board of the ECB, at the Sustainable Finance Lab Symposium on Finance in Transition

Interview with Frank Elderson, Member of the Executive Board of the ECB and Vice-Chair of the Supervisory Board of the ECB, conducted by Eric Albert

Presentation by Claudia M. Buch, Chair of the Supervisory Board of the European Central Bank, at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, Financial Statements series

Assessing how banks implement their digitalisation activities and manage the related risks has been one of the ECB’s supervisory priorities in recent years. We have now completed a key milestone for defining assessment criteria and in gathering sound practices. The Supervision Blog looks at this important step.

The Supervisory Board has decided to update its annual health check of banks, the Supervisory Review and Evaluation Process. Triggered by structural shifts, new risks and external shocks, the changes aim at making the SREP more efficient and effective.

Supervisors from around the world have revised the Core Principles for Effective Banking Supervision. Supervisory Board Vice-Chair Frank Elderson explains how this will make the global banking system safer and help supervision keep pace with our rapidly changing world.

Speech by Frank Elderson, Member of the Executive Board of the ECB and Vice-Chair of the Supervisory Board of the ECB

Interview with Verena Ross, Chair of the European Securities and Markets Authority, Supervision Newsletter

Introductory remarks by Frank Elderson, Member of the Executive Board of the ECB and Vice-Chair of the Supervisory Board of the ECB, at the panel on green finance policy and the role of Europe organised by the Federal Working Group Europe of the German Greens

Fernando Restoy, Chair of the Financial Stability Institute at the Bank for International Settlements and member of the expert group that reviewed the ECB’s SREP, Supervision Newsletter

Interview with Pentti Hakkarainen, Chair of the Administrative Board of Review, Supervision Newsletter

Contribution by Édouard Fernandez-Bollo, Member of the Supervisory Board of the ECB, for Revue Banque

Interview with Klaas Knot, Chair of the Financial Stability Board and President of De Nederlandsche Bank, Supervision Newsletter

Interview with John Berrigan, Director-General for Financial Stability, Financial Services and Capital Markets Union, European Commission, Supervision Newsletter

Interview with Frank Elderson, Member of the Executive Board of the ECB and Vice-Chair of the Supervisory Board of the ECB, conducted by Francine Lacqua, Bloomberg TV, on 2 November

Interview with Carolyn Rogers, Secretary General of the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision, Supervision Newsletter

Blog post by Frank Elderson, Vice-Chair of the Supervisory Board of the ECB, and Elizabeth McCaul, Member of the Supervisory Board of the ECB