ECB Annual Report on supervisory activities

Introductory interview with Danièle
Nouy, Chair of the Supervisory Board
In November 2016 European banking supervision celebrated its second
anniversary. Are you satisfied with its performance so far?
Frankly, I am very proud of what we have achieved. Within a very short time, we
have created an institution that helps to ensure the stability of the entire European
banking sector. European banking supervision is of course very young, and there is
still room for improvement. But it works, and it works well. People from all across
Europe are working together towards one common goal: a stable banking sector.
Some of them work here at the <strong>ECB</strong> while many more are working at the national
supervisory authorities. Together, they form a truly European team of banking
supervisors. And it is their dedication that drives our success. I cannot thank them
enough; for me, it is a pleasure and an honour to work together with all these people:
the staff at the <strong>ECB</strong>, the national supervisors and, of course, the members of the
Supervisory Board.
In a nutshell, what were the key achievements of European banking
supervision in 2016?
Three things come to mind: first, we began to effectively address the issue of nonperforming
loans. We had already set up a task force to deal with this issue in 2015.
In 2016 we produced draft guidance for banks on how to deal with high levels of nonperforming
loans. That has been a major step forward. Second, we continued to
improve the solvency of the euro area banking sector. And finally, we further
<strong>ECB</strong> <strong>Annual</strong> <strong>Report</strong> on supervisory activities 2016 − Introductory interview with Danièle
Nouy, Chair of the Supervisory Board 4