In a fireside chat, European Central Bank Banking Supervision Vice-Chair Frank Elderson argued that national market fragmentation, rather than prudential capital requirements, is the main constraint on European banks’ long-term competitiveness. Although bank profitability has stabilised at around 10% return on equity, roughly 80% of lending remains domestic and less than 2% of deposits are held across borders. Elderson called for a time-bound roadmap to complete the banking union, including a European deposit insurance scheme, freer movement of capital and liquidity within cross-border groups, deeper capital markets and support for well-executed cross-border mergers. He presented regulatory simplification and market integration as complementary, while rejecting lower capital requirements as a route to stronger lending. Options include replacing national transpositions with more directly applicable EU regulations and merging five macroprudential buffers into two, while preserving supervisors’ ability to impose bank-specific measures. Elderson also suggested considering an interim deposit insurance arrangement for the largest and most internationally active banks and their subsidiaries, pending a fully fledged European scheme. The remarks also provided an implementation update on the ECB’s supervisory simplification agenda. Average processing times for capital decisions fell to less than six days in the second quarter of 2026, while approvals for standardised, lower-risk securitisations declined from three months to about seven days. The ECB has also cut stress-test data points by around 55%, streamlined other reporting and discontinued around 40 guidance publications. Further proportionality could include allowing national authorities to raise the small and non-complex institution asset threshold from EUR 5 billion to as much as EUR 10 billion, without reducing prudential safeguards.
2026-09-08European Central Bank - Banking Supervision
European Central Bank Banking Supervision Vice-Chair Frank Elderson backs banking integration and simpler supervision without lower capital
European Central Bank Banking Supervision Vice-Chair Frank Elderson identified national fragmentation, not capital requirements, as the main threat to European banks’ long-term competitiveness. He backed a European deposit insurance scheme, deeper cross-border banking and capital markets, and simpler rules that preserve resilience. The ECB has already sharply shortened some approval times and reduced supervisory reporting demands.