European System of Financial Supervision (ESFS)
Single Supervisory Mechanism (SSM)

In the ESFS context, the Single Supervisory Mechanism (SSM) is the first pillar of the EU Banking Union. SSM ensures the soundness of the banking sector and aims at consistent banking supervision in the participating countries. It comprises the European Central Bank (ECB) and the national competent authorities (NCA’s) in the Euro area. ECB grants the role of prudential supervision to monitor the financial stability of eligible banks, mitigating systemic and individual risk. Direct supervision nowadays entails 117 „significant“ banks which account for almost 82% of the total assets of all supervised entities. It goes hand in hand with the SSM responsibility for the other some 6,000 less significant banks in the area; they, however, are supervised in day-to-day business by the NCAs – in close cooperation with the ECB.

SSM’s supreme body is the Supervisory Board which reports to the ECB Governing Council and is currently chaired by Andrea Enria. Four business units also known as Directorates General (DG) and the Secretariat complete the organization. Several other ECB units and services support the ECB banking supervision.

After it became operational on 4 November 2014, the SSM has been developing a state-of-the-art supervisory architecture and a unique professional network of experts. The SSM ensures that pertinent rules and measures are interpreted and applied consistently across all participating countries. This facilitates close cooperation with the other pillars of the EU Banking Union – regulation by the European Banking Authority EBA as well as guidance and help for troubled banks by the Single Resolution Board SRB.

Reflecting on the location of the ECB headquarters in Frankfurt am Main and the number of significant banks involved, a high profile Round Table has been established to exchange views and feed back between decision takers from the banks involved with representatives of the ECB, SSM, EBA, SRB, ESM and other European entities. The 11th European Round Table SSM focussed on „Management of Non-Financial Risks – the next big Challenge“. The 11th European SSM Round Table was scheduled for  May 2020 with the Bank of Finland in Helsinki.  

The European SSM Round Table – as a neutral platform – was initiated by the IBF International Bankers Forum e.V. in November 2014. The International Bankers Forum e.V. is the largest privately initiated bankers‘ association in Germany, with some 1,000 finance professionals, banks, financial institutions, fintechs and corporates as personal and institutional members. The memberships of the European Central Bank and Deutsche Bundesbank underline IBF’s acknowledged neutral position in the financial community. Since November 2016, the Round Table is organized in cooperation with FIRM The Frankfurt Institute for Risk Management and Regulation, and has developed into an established continuous event.