CEBS starts consultation on the establishment of a mediation mechanism between banking supervisors

The Committee of European Banking Supervisors (CEBS) is publishing today its Consultation Paper on a mediation mechanism between banking supervisors. The consultation is open to all interested parties, including supervised institutions, other market participants and end users of banking services. The consultation period begins today and will run until 19 June 2007.

As recommended by the ECOFIN Council's conclusions of May 2006, CEBS sets out in its Consultation Paper the basic principles and the key features of the mechanism as formalized in the annexed draft Protocol.

Mediation is defined as a procedure in which a neutral intermediary, the mediator, endeavours, at the request of the parties to a dispute, to assist them in reaching a mutually satisfactory settlement of the dispute.

The mechanism is designed as peer mechanism tool that aims at helping to solve supervisory disputes as they arise in a cross-border context.

The objective is to support the application of the already existing cooperation tools among supervisors such as the CEBS Guidelines on validation and on home/host cooperation. Mediation will prove useful only for cases in which all other cooperation mechanisms have been exhausted.

CEBS has drawn from the CESR' mediation mechanism already in place and adapted it to meet the objective of the prudential banking supervision and the banking sector's specificities.

Clear and rapid procedures have been devised to ensure a fair, efficient and confidential process as well as to suit the potential diversity of the cases. It is intended to test the mechanism in 2008 and review it in two years time.

Comments received will be published on the CEBS website unless respondents request otherwise. Please send your comments to the following e-mail address: CP13@c-ebs.org

CEBS especially welcomes responses to the following questions:

Please read Consultation Papers section for more information