The Economic Crisis of 2008 and the Financial System Supervision: Towards an European Banking Union

The significant repercussions of the recent crisis in the financial sector and the real economy have led to the development of policies aimed at strengthening the stability of the international banking system. Banking regulatory reforms (Basel III) improve micro-prudential supervision and involve macro-prudential supervision to avoid systemic risk. Capital requirements are tightening up and the quality of core capital is upgraded in order to provide greater coverage of losses and better risk management. In addition, a new framework for liquidity risk is introduced, as well as a complementary tool for limiting leverage. Recently, an agreement was reached in the EU to establish a Banking Union in the Eurozone, based on uniform regulation, supervision, bank clearing and deposit protection mechanisms. This framework includes a common banking capital for bank consolidation, which aims to reduce the impact on savers. This study aims to analyse the banking sector's activities and the constituent elements of the existing regulatory framework, particularly those involved in the causes of the financial crisis. It also aims to present the dimensions of the new regulatory framework for joint supervision leading to the European Banking Union and to analyse the pillars that form it, even though they are still in progress. The analysis will also build on the experiences from the recent crisis, in order to reach clear conclusions about the necessity and role of the Banking Union.