Although the members of the Supervisory Board of the ECB have a variety of skills, including in business management, law, accounting and risk, and although the six members chosen by the ECB have been carefully chosen to bring as much diversity as possible, the institutional set-up leaves the Supervisory Board with less first-hand banking experience than perhaps desirable.
The Supervisory Board plays an extraordinary central role in the SSM because all supervisory decisions requiring approval under the prudential legislation for all significant institutions must be approved by it and subsequently by the Governing Council. The SSM is hampered by the EU Treaty which limits decision making authority at the ECB to the Governing Council and the Executive Board.