Commenting on today’s agreement by European finance ministers on the European Central Bank

(ECB) becoming a common bank supervisor, Simon Lewis, chief executive of the Association for Financial Markets in Europe (AFME) said: 

“ECOFIN’s decision should be welcomed as a major step forward and also an essential element in resolving the Eurozone crisis.

“The Single Supervisory Mechanism forms a key component of banking union and the fact that Member States have now reached agreement is a welcome demonstration of the strong political commitment to this important project. It is essential that this momentum is maintained.

“Banking Union should enhance the Single Market as a whole and AFME supports the significant efforts to achieve fair and balanced decision‐making for the European Banking Authority (EBA). The EBA should also have authority to develop a supervisory handbook for the Single Market as a whole in order to ensure high quality, consistent supervision for all banks in Europe.”

‐ENDS‐