The agreement has been reached under the auspices of the Vienna Initiative - the public-private network established to safeguard the financial stability of emerging Europe - and reflects the systemic role of EU banking groups in the financial systems of the six SEE countries. The signatory supervisory authorities are from the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Republic of Srpska, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Montenegro, the Republic of Serbia and Albania.

 

Andrea Enria, Chairperson of the European Banking Authority (EBA) , in his welcoming remarks said "The signature of the memorandum of cooperation is the result of the commitment and the efforts put by the EBA and representatives of the Vienna Initiative towards enhancing cross border cooperation and supervision. I look forward to working with the SEE authorities further, helping them align their supervision and regulation with the EU standards and benefit from their contribution in the supervision of the EU cross-border groups".

 

This non-binding agreement establishes a framework of cooperation and information exchange designed to strengthen banking regulation and supervision of banks operating in the EU and in the SEE countries. 

 

Within this framework, the EBA will update these authorities on the relevant developments of the single rule book and of progress in convergence of supervisory practices, thus facilitating their participation in the colleges of supervisors. The EBA will also open its regular training activities to them, while the signatory authorities agree to provide the EBA with regular and ad-hoc information on relevant developments in their banking systems, which will be used for risk analysis purposes.

 

Additionally, under the agreement, these authorities will aim to bring their own regulatory and supervisory standards and institutional arrangements into line with those in the EU, according to a timetable appropriate to the conditions in individual countries.

 

Press release

 

Memorandum of cooperation