On 22 November 2018, the European Central Bank (ECB) published a speech by Ignazio Angeloni, a member of the ECB Supervisory Board, on the Single Supervisory Mechanism (SSM). The speech is centred on the SSM’s strategic objectives and key points to note include:

• restoring confidence in the banking sector: bank capital has grown between 2014 and mid-2018, with the common equity tier 1 (CET 1) ratio for significant banks supervised by the ECB, rising by 3 percentage points on average. Banks’ stock of non-performing loans has also decreased;
• breaking the adverse link between banks and sovereigns: during the financial crisis sovereigns were exposed to banking risk, and banks were exposed to sovereign risk. Risk reduction has since increased in this regard but developing a safety-framework is still slow;
• fostering a level playing field and banking integration: this has been supported by regulatory initiatives supplementing the SSM including the Capital Requirements Directive IV;
• exploiting the synergies between the ECB and the national supervisors: the ECB has fostered cooperation, working with joint supervisory teams as well as assisting Member State national competent authorities in their work; and
• bringing independence, transparency and accountability up to the best global standards: the ECB has held 21 public consultations for new regulations, to engage stakeholders in the regulatory process, and has also received 86 more public access requests in 2017 than 2015.