ESRB General Board meeting in Frankfurt

The General Board of the European Systemic Risk Board held its 12th regular meeting on 22 January

The ESRB General Board discussed the risks and vulnerabilities in the global financial system. The Board also considered a number of steps taken by macro-prudential authorities in some EU Member States, including action to contain pockets of vulnerabilities in real estate markets. In addition, the Board discussed progress towards bank balance sheet repair across the EU and possible propagation of risks from major emerging markets to the EU’s financial system.

The ESRB General Board also agreed on two sets of documents. The documents are designed to help macro-prudential authorities put into operation the new macro-prudential policy framework that came into force on 1 January 2014 under the revised prudential rules for banks (CRD/CRR). The documents comprise:

• A Decision. The Decision sets out the process and coordination framework for preparing ESRB opinions or issuing recommendations on macro-prudential measures, notified to the ESRB by relevant authorities, in line with the CRD/CRR. The Decision has been published in the ESRB website today and will be published in the Official Journal of the European Union in due course.
• A Flagship Report and a Handbook. The Flagship Report is aimed at high-level policy-makers. It provides an overview of the macro-prudential framework and instruments, which is informative also for the general public. The Handbook, which is aimed at macro-prudential authorities, offers more detailed operational advice. Both will be published on the ESRB website in due course.

The ESRB General Board made three appointments, in line with ESRB Regulation (EU) No 1092/2010, as follows:

• Marek Belka, as a member of the Steering Committee, for an additional term of three years. Marek Belka has been President of Narodowy Bank Polski since 2010. He is also Chair of the World Bank/IMF Development Committee and of the Vienna 2.0 Initiative Steering Committee. He has been a member of the ESRB Steering Committee since January 2011.
• Stefan Ingves, as Chair of the Advisory Technical Committee (ATC), for an additional term of three years. Stefan Ingves has been Governor of Sveriges Riksbank since 2006. He is also Chair of the Basel Committee of Banking Supervision. He has chaired the ESRB ATC since 2011.
• Richard Portes, as a new member of the Advisory Scientific Committee (ASC), replacing Charles Calomiris. Richard Portes has been Professor of Economics at London Business School since 1995. He is also the Founder and President of the Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR).

The ESRB General Board also took note of the rotation of the chairmanship of the Advisory Scientific Committee (ASC). On 1 January 2014, Marco Pagano became Chair of the Advisory Scientific Committee – replacing André Sapir who had chaired the Committee since 1 September 2012. Marco Pagano is Professor of Economics, University of Naples Federico II and will take the Chair until 30 April 2015. The two Vice-Chairs are Martin Hellwig and André Sapir. The ESRB Regulation stipulates that the chairmanship of the Advisory Scientific Committee is to rotate between the Chair and the two Vice-Chairs (on a 16-month basis).

The ESRB General Board published the sixth issue of the risk dashboard. The risk dashboard is a set of quantitative and qualitative indicators of systemic risk in the EU’s financial system.

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