In this environment, macroprudential policy needs to lean decisively against the wind and act to rekindle credit and economic growth. But in practice it is not doing so. Indeed, most recent macroprudential actions at national level have further tightened capital requirements, in response to national problems. Coupled with the ongoing micro-level tightening, these measures could ultimately aggravate the risks of persistently low nominal growth.
There are certainly good reasons, on which I shall not elaborate here, for leaving area-wide macroprudential instruments on hold. At the same time, since under the Regulation the SSM has both micro- and macroprudential responsibilities, I believe that reflection on this issue is warranted. The complexity of the European system of financial supervision is extraordinary. This complexity follows from two main factors.