Banks, EU – Baltic States, Financial Services, Lithuania

ESRB is an independent body responsible for the supervision of prudential risk at a macro-level of the financial system. Its performance will be financed by the funds of the European Central Bank (ECB), writes LETA/ELTA.

ESRB will collect and analyze all required information, submit warnings related to risk and will propose recommendations how to mitigate risk, will monitor the implementation of given recommendations. Although decisions taken by ESRB will not be legally obliging, in cases of non-compliance member states will have to indicate reasons for non-observance.

ESRB will address warnings or recommendations to individual countries, their groups or the whole Community.

ESRB is composed of the General Board, Management Committee, Secretariat, Advisory Technical Committee and Advisory Scientific Committee.

According to Reinoldijus Sarkinas, at the ESRB inauguration session organizational issues of the ESRB performance have been dealt with – members of the Board Committee have been elected, the mandate of the Advisory Technical Committee has been approved and its chairman elected, a decision on the requirements for members of the Advisory Scientific Committee has been taken.

The main decision making body of ESRB is the General Board whose members are all governors of national central banks of the European System of Central Banks, the ECB Chairman and Deputy Chairman, member of the European Commission, chairmen of the Advisory Technical Committee and Advisory Scientific Committee, chairmen of European supervisory institutions and representatives of national supervisory institutions. Lithuania is represented in this Board by the Chairman of the Board of the Bank of Lithuania who has a voting right and Director of the Credit Institutions Supervision Department of the Bank of Lithuania, high ranking representatives in an advisory vote capacity of the Securities Commission and Insurance Supervisory Commission.

Two Bank of Lithuania representatives will work in the ESRB Advisory Technical Committee which will give consultations and assistance in important issues related to the work of ESRB, prepare reports on issues related with the financial stability in EU.

Because of the financial crisis, the European Commission authorized in November 2008 the experts group headed by the former Governor of the Banque de France Jacques de Larosiere to give recommendations on how to strengthen the supervision of the European financial system and restore confidence in the financial system. Implementing these recommendations and with the approval of the European Council, ESRV and three more European supervisory institutions (banking, insurance and occupational pensions, securities) were founded and legal acts of the European Parliament and the Council required for their work were adopted.

Sessions of the ESRB General Board are planned to be held every three months in Frankfurt am Main.