Accountability and audit requirements in relation to the SSM

peer reviewedThe financial crisis emphasised the shortcomings of the supervision applied to credit institutions and the weakness of the audit framework for banking supervisors. It led to a major overhaul in the prudential supervision of credit institutions, at both Member State and EU level. At the same time, the considerable financial support provided by Member States to the banking sector justified a strengthening of SAIs’ powers. Guaranteeing the smooth operation of the banking sector and preventing the emergence of a further crisis would also require better public audit of banking supervisors. In several Member States, SAIs were given new responsibilities to increase their auditing powers over the activities performed by authorities responsible for banking supervision, including NCBs. This led the ECB to clarify the scope of Article 27 of the ESCB Statute and the interaction between the principles of NCB independence and accountability..