Supervision Newsletter - May 2025
Interview
"Maximum harmonisation with minimal rules"
Kilvar Kessler, ECB Supervisory Board member and Chairman of Estonia’s Finantsinspektsioon, discusses his experience with bank penalties and the lessons his supervisors have learned from anti-money laundering cases. He also cautions that an abundance of rules can stifle success.
Read the interviewFeature
Benefitting from advanced technology in supervision
The cutting-edge technology European banking supervision is using benefits supervisors and banks alike. Key projects to streamline data processes and enhance analysis capabilities ensure rigorous oversight while making the interaction with banks more transparent and more efficient.
Article on advanced technology in supervisionIn focus
SREP reform: towards more efficient and effective supervision
The reform is part of the ECB’s ongoing efforts to make supervision more effective and efficient. Decisions will become clearer and more focused. Supervisors will focus on the most severe findings, while relying on banks to address less critical issues without active follow-up.
Article on the SREP reform
ICAAP: enhancing supervisory assessment
To ensure banks’ internal capital adequacy assessment processes (ICAAPs) are solid, the ECB has enhanced its assessments, integrating them more closely into the SREP. Supervisors will have the flexibility to assess the ICAAP year-round and pick relevant issues for review.
Article on ICAAPKey data
Significant banks: sovereign exposures reaching new highs
Banks’ government exposures (incl. derivatives and off-balance-sheet items) stood at €3.13 tn at the end of 2024, the highest value since 2018 and €203 bn more than 6 months earlier. Growth was mainly driven by exposures to France (up €69 bn) and Spain (up €26 bn).
Supervisory banking statistics
Less significant banks: return on equity continues its upward trend
Further growth in earnings enabled banks to increase their capital and reserves in Q4 2024. The seasonality affecting Q4 data mostly reflects loan loss provisions from the annual validation of loan classifications and transfers to internal reserves for general banking.
Supervisory banking statistics- 20 May 2025
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Sharon Donnery at BPFI National Banking Conference 2025
The ECB representative to the Supervisory Board will participate in a fireside chat about the future of banking and capital markets and their importance to the economy.
- 20 May 2025
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Claudia Buch at fifth Annual European Financial Integration Conference
The Chair of the Supervisory Board will reflect on financial integration and the state of banking and supervision in Europe.
- 5 June 2025
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Pedro Machado at EFDI 2025 Annual General Meeting and International Conferences
The ECB representative to the Supervisory Board will take part in a discussion on how regulation and market conditions can affect banks and their activities.
- 11 June 2025
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Claudia Buch at Goldman Sachs European Financials Conference
The Chair of the Supervisory Board will deliver a speech and participate in a fireside chat about the simplification of European regulation.
- 12 June 2025
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Frank Elderson at International Conference on Policy Challenges for the Financial Sector
The Vice-Chair of the Supervisory Board will deliver a speech about the importance of good supervision in the face of structural transformation in the financial sector.
- 18 June 2025
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Sharon Donnery at Credit Management Summit
The ECB representative to the Supervisory Board will highlight challenges for the credit management sector in a speech.
- 18 June 2025
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Frank Elderson and Pedro Machado at fourth SRB Legal Conference
The Vice-Chair of the Supervisory Board and the ECB representative to the Supervisory Board will speak about the latest legal developments in the European banking union and beyond.
- 15 July 2025
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Claudia Buch at regular European Parliament hearing
The Chair of the Supervisory Board will give an introductory statement on banking supervision at a hearing before the European Parliament's Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs.