The European Commission has put forward proposals for a single European supervisory mechanism for banks. Under the proposals, the European Central Bank (ECB) will be responsible for supervision of all banks in the eurozone. The proposals contain:
- a regulation giving the ECB powers to supervise all banks in the eurozone. Banks in non-euro countries may submit voluntarily to the ECB's supervision.
- a regulation aligning the existing regulation concerning the European Banking Authority with the new structure for banking supervision.
The Commission has also published a communication setting out its vision for the banking union and addressing, among other things, the common rulebook and the single supervisory mechanism.
The Commission proposes to introduce the single supervisory mechanism in steps from 1 January 2013. During the first step, the ECB would assume full supervisory responsibility for credit institutions which have received or requested public funding. From 1 July 2013 all banks of systemic importance would be put under the ECB's supervision. And from 1 January 2014 the new system would apply to all banks in the eurozone
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