Claudia Buch: European banking supervision at ten - building a strong institution for a resilient future

Speech by Prof Claudia Buch, Chair of the Supervisory Board of the European Central Bank, at the event celebrating the tenth anniversary of the Single Supervisory Mechanism, Frankfurt am Main, 6 November 2024. 

The views expressed in this speech are those of the speaker and not the view of the BIS.

Today, we all have good reasons to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the Single Supervisory Mechanism (SSM). European banking supervision has a clear mandate – to keep European banks safe and sound. It can pursue its mandate independently and in the best interests of all Europeans. It is a core element of the banking union, which is itself representative of a strong, united policy response to the global financial crisis and the European sovereign debt crisis. These crises exposed the risks of insufficient regulation and supervision. And they were very costly.

Like many European projects, the banking union started with a vision: to supervise banks from a European perspective, to better manage failing banks and safeguard taxpayer money, and to provide the same insurance protection to all European depositors.

But the experience of European supervision also holds broader lessons for Europe. It shows that, while European integration is driven by a vision, this integration often only progresses in response to crises. Successful institution-building in Europe needs an institutional framework and, perhaps even more so, the devotion and energy of the people who work to make a new institution a reality.

It is you, our colleagues in the ECB and the national authorities across Europe, who have shaped European banking supervision and made it an internationally recognised supervisor. This experience underscores the importance of acting today – without waiting for the next crisis – to advance integration and strengthen the banking union.