In March, the ECB published its views on the role of central banks in prudential supervision. The ECB argued in favour of a strong involvement of central banks. That view is well-founded. In all major industrial countries, the responsibility for the stability of the financial system is assigned to the central bank. Macro- and microprudential analyses, however, are intertwined.
If you want to assess the risks to the system, you need to know about the players. If you want to assess individual risks, you need to know about their exposure to systemic risk. Central banks are required to oversee the smooth functioning of payment systems, another source of systemic risk.