The ECB banking supervision will soon be under German leadership: Claudia Buch, previously Vice President of the Deutsche Bundesbank, will be head of the “Single Supervisory Mechanism” (SSM) at the European Central Bank (ECB) from January 1, 2024 and will therefore be the top banking supervisor for the euro area .
The ECB banking supervision was created in 2014 as a lesson from the banking and financial crisis. The ECB banking supervisory authority currently directly monitors 109 banks in the euro area, which represent 82 percent of the banking market in the currency area. The aim is to ensure more stability in the financial system with uniform rules for the largest financial institutions in the euro area.
After her appointment, Buch said she wanted to help ensure that “the banking sector remains resilient and serves the citizens of Europe.” Buch will succeed the Italian Andrea Enria, who has been in charge of ECB banking supervision of the leading financial institutions in the euro area since January 1, 2019. The term of office at the top of the so-called Supervisory Board is limited to five years and cannot be extended.
Before her appointment to the Bundesbank board on May 1, 2014, Buch was head of the Halle Institute for Economic Research (IWH) and for many years as an “economic expert” on the federal government’s advisory committee. At the Bundesbank, the economist from Paderborn was responsible, among other things, for financial supervision.
In addition to Buch, the Bundesbank will lose another board member at the end of 2023: Joachim Wuermeling announced in March that he would be leaving his position early at the end of the year. Another position in the Bundesbank’s six-person management committee is currently vacant.
