Options and national discretions under the Deposit Guarantee Scheme Directive and their treatment in the context of a European Deposit Insurance Scheme. Final Report November 2019

In the European Union, the Deposit Guarantee Schemes Directive1 adopted in 2014 sets out rules and procedures to ensure depositor protection and is a key step towards harmonisation of deposit insurance in the European Union. It contains 22 national options and discretions (NODs) which Member States may apply to reflect specific national circumstances. The purpose of this study is to assess the respective national implementations of the NODs, including their practical impact on depositor protection, and to propose policy recommendations regarding their possible treatment under the European Deposit Insurance Scheme, under the assumption that the latter would take the form of a full insurance scheme. The analysis of the NODs is based on extensive surveys and interviews with representatives of national deposit guarantee schemes and authorities, including national competent authorities, central banks, Ministries of Finance, and banks. Based on the above analysis of the NODs, this study proposes alternative approaches for 12 NODs and full harmonisation for 3 NODs. It also recommends that 2 NODs could be retained in their current form while 5 NODs could be eliminated