Banking supervision

Strategic intents and supervisory priorities

The Single Supervisory Mechanism (SSM), the system of banking supervision in the euro area, became fully operational on November 4, 2014. Since then, the SSM has provided for a system of shared and complementary responsibilities. With regard to Austrian banks and the domestic financial market, the OeNB now shares the task of ensuring financial stability with the European Central Bank (ECB) and the Austrian Financial Market Authority (FMA). The OeNB’s specific role is governed by the SSM’s strategic intents and organizational principles. In particular, within the SSM, supervision is risk-based as a rule, which means that the intensity of supervision is tailored to the systemic importance and risk profile of the supervised banks, taking account of the principle of proportionality.

The strategic priorities of the SSM are reviewed on an annual basis. In line with the risk-based approach to supervision, the ECB and the competent national authorities jointly analyze the risks prevailing in the banking sector each year and translate their findings into strategic priorities for supervisory action for the next year. These priorities, which guide day-to-day supervision, are published on the SSM Website.