ECB appoints three Directors General for banking supervision

19 November 2025

• Patrick Amis appointed Director General Horizontal Line Supervision
• Korbinian Ibel appointed Director General Systemic and International Banks
• Thijs van Woerden appointed Director General Universal and Diversified Institutions

The Executive Board of the European Central Bank (ECB) has appointed Patrick Amis, Korbinian Ibel and Thijs van Woerden as Directors General for Horizontal Line Supervision, Systemic and International Banks, and Universal and Diversified Institutions, respectively. They will take up their duties on 1 March 2026.

Patrick Amis, Korbinian Ibel and Thijs van Woerden currently serve as Directors General for Specialised Institutions and Less Significant Institutions, Universal and Diversified Institutions, and Horizontal Line Supervision, respectively.

Korbinian Ibel will replace Ramón Quintana, who has been Director General since the start of European banking supervision in 2014 and will retire from the ECB in February 2026 to join Banco de España.

At the ECB, bank-specific supervision falls under three directorate generals, structured according to the business models of supervised banks: systemic and international banks, universal and diversified institutions, and specialised institutions and less significant institutions.

This bank-by-bank supervision is supported by thematic teams of risk and subject matter experts in the Directorate General Horizontal Line Supervision. These teams conduct benchmarking and industry-wide assessments such as thematic reviews, develop supervisory policy stances, and maintain supervisory methodologies.

Today’s appointments reflect the ECB’s commitment to encouraging internal mobility up to the highest management levels. Mobility between thematic supervision and bank-specific supervision promotes greater collaboration and enhances the ECB’s ability to address identified issues effectively.

The ECB has started the recruitment process for a new Director General Specialised Institutions and Less Significant Institutions.

For media queries, please contact François Peyratout, tel.: +49 172 8632 119.

Notes

• Patrick Amis has served as Director General Specialised Institutions and Less Significant Institutions since 2020 and has been Director General responsible for overseeing the supervision of less significant institutions since 2018. He joined the ECB at the start of European banking supervision in 2014 as Deputy Director General responsible for the direct supervision of the largest and most complex significant banks. He has held senior roles at the French banking and insurance supervisory authority (ACPR) and the Committee of European Banking Supervisors (CEBS).
• Korbinian Ibel has served as Director General Universal and Diversified Institutions since 2020. He joined the ECB at the start of European banking supervision in 2014 as Director General responsible for the horizontal function. Before joining the ECB he worked in various management roles at Commerzbank, as a strategy consultant at Boston Consulting Group and as an IT consultant with Accenture.
• Thijs van Woerden has served as Director General Horizontal Line Supervision since early 2024. He was previously responsible for all De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB) staff belonging to Joint Supervisory Teams for the supervision of Dutch significant banks. Prior to that, he held managerial roles in DNB’s Insurance Supervision and Supervision Policy Divisions and worked at Accenture for several years.
• The list of managers can be found on the ECB’s website.