Macro-prudential policies aim to prevent, or at least  4  BIS Review 103/2009  contain, the build up of financial imbalances and ensure that the financial system is able to withstand their unwinding and be resilient to shocks.
Central banks are well suited to be the authorities mainly responsible for macro-prudential supervision because of their expertise and analytical capabilities in the fields of monetary and financial stability analysis, as well as due to their closeness to the money and financial markets.