During the conduct of monetary policy, central banks collect information which is of use in the supervision of individual financial institutions. Interlinking central bank functions and prudential supervision takes advantage of these synergies. In Germany, the envisaged reform of financial supervision is linked to the reform of the Bundesbank.
In its statement on the planned reform of the Deutsche Bundesbank, the ECB made it clear how valuable the independence of a central bank is - institutional independence, personal independence and financial independence alike. The Maastricht Treaty set out to protect central bank independence in all three regards.