Since November 2014 the ECB has supervised the now 129 biggest banking groups in the euro area. However, this does not mean that there is only one referee. European banking supervision consists not only of the ECB, but also of a total of 26 national central banks and supervisory authorities. And the national supervisors play an essential role in day-to-day supervision.
They make up the majority of the members of the teams supervising the large banks. Decisions are then taken by the Supervisory Board and the ECB’s Governing Council, in which the national supervisors are also represented. European banking supervision thus means cooperation – a stable European banking system is a joint endeavour.