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Banking supervision entails significant risks to the public purse, say the auditors, but they will not be in a position to carry out a proper audit of these activities unless the ECB adjusts its stance regarding access rights.
The auditors say that there has been a lack of progress in their discussions with the ECB. They call on the European Parliament and the Council to express full support for their rights to access banking supervision documents and, if considered necessary, to amend the current regulations, clarifying that they can access any documents they consider necessary.
“We are not seeking to audit monetary policy,” said Klaus-Heiner Lehne, the President of the ECA. “But it is essential that we have full powers to audit the ECB’s supervisory activities. This is particularly important given the high risks to public funds from banking failures and the complexity of the new supervisory mechanisms.”
Writing in response to a request from the Parliament, the auditors highlight three occasions when they have been denied access to important information. Their 2016 audit of the Single Supervisory Mechanism faced severe difficulties in obtaining audit evidence. During work on their 2017 special report on the Single Resolution Board, the Board insisted on removing any data originating from the ECB. Then, in January 2018, when the auditors reported on the ECB’s crisis management role in relation to banking supervision, the ECB again denied access to the documents needed to carry out the audit work as initially planned.