Financial supervision in Europe is carried out by three European Supervisory Agencies (ESAs) agencies and a committee to address systemic risk. They are:
- the European Banking Authority (EBA),
- the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA),
- the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA),
- the European Systemic Risk Board (ESRB).
After being in place for two years, the system is being reviewed by the European Commission, which launched a public consultation on the review of the European System of Financial Supervision in Q2 2013.
Finance Watch’s response to the consultation calls for, among other things:
- more democratic accountability for ESAs, including European Parliament approval of key appointments,
- more resources and budget autonomy for ESAs,
- a review of ESA governance structures to address national biases,
- a more central role for consumer interests,
- longer consultation periods for technical consultations,
- measures to reduce the over-representation of financial sector interests in stakeholder groups,
- more funding and support for non-financial participants in stakeholder groups.
