FRANKFURT (MNI) – The European Central Bank should have ultimate
supervisory responsibility over all banks in the Eurozone, even if
practical supervision continues to be conducted by national authorities,
German Economics Minister Philipp Roesler said Friday.
Roesler suggested a compromise in the debate over the role of the
ECB that would see supervision mostly conducted by national authorities
with the ECB maintaining the right to intervene when necessary.
The ECB should “get the possibility, theoretically, to intervene in
the banking system, in other words to take supervision on itself, when
it is necessary, but only when it is necessary,” Roesler said at an
economic conference here.
Eurozone members must be ready to hand over some degree of control
to European authorities, including giving up some measure of control
“even over the whole banking landscape in Germany,” the minister
acknowledged.
Eurozone finance ministers will reconvene next week in the hopes of
finalizing a legal framework for a single banking supervisor amid deep
disagreement over the scope and speed of establishing a common
supervisor. Germany has been pushing hard for maintaining a central role
for national supervisors in monitoring local banks.
In taking on a supervisory role, the ECB should not lose sight of
its “core role” in ensuring price stability, Roesler stressed.
— Frankfurt bureau: +49 69 720 142; email: ccermak@mni-news.com —
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