We are very honored to announce that the Founding President of EMEA, Director of EMNES and Professor at The Business School (Former CASS), London, Prof. Rym Ayadi, has been re-elected as Chair of the Banking Stakeholders Group (BSG) of the European Banking Authority (EBA), at the online meeting of the BSG that took place on 27 October 2020. Prof. Ayadi is one of the four independent top-ranking academics among the 30 selected members who form the Banking Stakeholders Group (BSG), and she is also member of the Advisory Committee on Proportionality (ACP) of the European Banking Authority (EBA).
When asked about the role of the BSG during and post COVID-19 pandemic, Prof. Ayadi answered: ” The world is going through unprecedented difficult times. In Europe, several exceptional measures have been swiftly adopted and implemented since March 2020. The EBA has been in the forefront and BSG has advised on adopting banking measures to mitigate the detrimental effects of the pandemic on banks on the real economy. European banks have been active in mitigating the detrimental effects of the pandemic via implementing moratoria on bank loans, accelerating digital solutions to providing banking services and not cutting loans to the real economy.” She added that “banks must continue monitoring the quality of their assets and ensuring they maintain healthy levels of capitals and building capital buffers to enhance resilience during long COVID-19 situation, while respecting consumers rights essential for consumer protection”.
The new BSG started its four-year mandate on 1 July 2020, aiming to provide advice to the EBA on its policy work and is consulted on technical standards, guidelines and recommendations for banking regulation. The BSG is formally qualified as the EBA’s stakeholder group in Article 37 and Recital 48 of the EBA’s Founding Regulation which also describe it as a group of interested parties due to the variety of perspectives and expertise that its diverse membership brings to the Authority’s work on regulatory or implementing technical standards, guidelines and recommendations. As such, it can be considered as the major EBA’s Advisory Group.
The EBA’s Banking Stakeholder Group (BSG) is composed of 30 members appointed by EBA’s Board of Supervisors, following an open and transparent selection procedure and taking into account geographical and gender balance. The BSG members represent, in balanced proportions, financial institutions operating in the Union, their employees’ representatives, consumers, users of banking services, representatives of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and independent top-ranking academics. The Group’s role is to help facilitate consultation with stakeholders in areas relevant to the tasks of the EBA. In particular, the Group shall be consulted on actions concerning regulatory technical standards and implementing technical standards and, guidelines and recommendations, to the extent that these do not concern individual financial institutions. The Group may also submit opinions and advice to the Authority on any issue related to the tasks of the Authority, with particular focus on common supervisory culture, peer reviews of competent authorities and assessment of market developments. The Group may also submit a request to the Authority, as appropriate, to investigate the alleged breach or non-application of Union law.
The European Banking Authority (EBA) is an independent EU Authority which works to ensure effective and consistent prudential regulation and supervision across the European banking sector. Its overall objectives are to maintain financial stability in the EU and to safeguard the integrity, efficiency and orderly functioning of the banking sector.