But when the new EU resolution framework is completed and working properly, such concerns about depositors should be allayed. The Bank Recovery and Resolution Directive already places depositors at the top of the creditor hierarchy in resolution. And the new minimum requirements for own funds and eligible liabilities should ensure that there is a sufficient buffer of loss-absorbing capacity to make depositor bail-in extremely unlikely.23 What is still missing, however, is a backstop for the Single Resolution Fund. Resolution needs financing24, and the Resolution Fund, which is funded by banks, will ensure that it is paid for by the private sector. But in a very deep crisis, the resources of such funds can be depleted. That is why in all the other large jurisdictions, such as the US, the UK and Japan, resolution funds are backstopped by the fiscal authority. The aim of such backstops is not to bail banks out: any funds borrowed are repaid by the private sector over time. Rather, the aim is to create confidence that bank resolution can always be enacted efficiently, which has a stabilising effect in a crisis and prevents more banks from being dragged into difficulties. In other words, policies that reduce risks for the banking system as a whole will also lead to larger risk-reduction for individual banks. A good example of this is the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) in the US, which is also the resolution authority, and is backstopped by a credit line with the US Treasury.
26 Ellis, D. (2013), “Deposit Insurance Funding: Assuring Confidence”, FDIC Staff Paper. 27 For a review of the interactions between public and private risk-sharing, see Ioannou, D. and Schäfer, D. (2017), 8/9  BIS central bankers' speeches  “Risk sharing in EMU: key insights from a literature review”, SUERF Policy Note, Issue No 21. 28 For example, cross-border banking mergers and acquisitions in the euro area have been on a declining trend  since 2007. 29 See Draghi, M. (2017), “Structural reforms in the euro area”, introductory remarks at the ECB conference  “Structural reforms in the euro area”, 18 October 2017. 30 Eurobarometer 88. 31 Parlemeter 2016, Special Eurobarometer of the European Parliament, November 2016. 9/9  BIS central bankers' speeches