It will be easier to assess and respond to the build-up of systemic risk if the supervisory authority also has responsibilities, and hence specific know-how, in other areas of the financial system (e.g. market functioning and the operation of clearing and settlement systems), as do central banks. And, access to supervisory information can help the central bank better calibrate monetary policy (e.g.
the case of the “headwinds” that confronted the US economy during the recovery of the early 1990s). In these terms, there is no obviously “right” answer to this debate. Individual observers may have their own preferences, but at the end of the day, the answer probably depends on country-specific circumstances. For example, how independent from political and industry pressure can a separate supervisor be?