25 September 2007

CEBS publishes a Mediation Protocol between banking supervisors

CEBS published a Protocol for a mediation mechanism.

Press release

Protocol on Mediation  

Feedback statement   

Annex to Protocol   

CEBS re-iterates its commitment to using all tools at its disposal, including mediation, to achieve further convergence and reduce the supervisory burden of cross-border banking groups.

CEBS recognises that this is a learning-by-doing process and the mechanism will be subject to review in two years time, in light of the experience gained.

CEBS organised a public hearing and received a number of written comments from industry participants.

In general, market participants were supportive of the proposed peer mechanism tool aimed at helping to solve supervisory disputes as they arise in a cross-border context.

Some respondents commented on the general functioning of CEBS and the status of L3 tools. These comments touched upon issues of highest relevance for CEBS in general, which however go beyond the scope of the mechanism and therefore were not addressed in the finalisation of the mechanism.

CEBS has taken note of some respondents’ doubts as to how effective the mediation tool will be in practice as the outcome of a mediation process is not, legally non binding and concerns that the mechanism may be too complex to operate smoothly. 

© Graham Bishop