Opinion of the European Central Bank of 15 October 2007 at the request of the German Ministry of Finance on a draft law modernising the supervisory structure of the Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (CON/2007/32)
Date: 2007-10-15
Institutions: European Central Bank
Subjects: Germany, financial stability, financial supervision, institutional reform, national law, supervisory power

EN 

OPINION OF THE EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK 

of 15 October 2007 

at the request of the German Ministry of Finance 

on a draft law modernising the supervisory structure of the Federal Financial Supervisory 

Authority 

(CON/2007/32) 

Introduction and legal basis 

On  9 July 2007,  the  European  Central  Bank  (ECB)  received  a  request  from  the  Federal  Ministry  of 

Finance  for  an  opinion  on  the  draft  law  modernising  the  supervisory  structure  of  the  Federal  Financial 

Supervisory  Authority  (hereinafter  the  ‘draft  law’).  On  27 September 2007,  the  Federal  Ministry  of 

Finance sent to the ECB a revised text of the draft law (hereinafter the ‘revised draft law’) with an urgent 

request for an opinion. 

The  ECB’s  competence  to  deliver  an  opinion  is  based  on  Article 105(4)  of  the  Treaty  establishing  the 

European  Community  and  the  sixth  indent  of  Article 2(1)  of  Council  Decision 98/415/EC  of 

29 June 1998  on  the  consultation  of  the  European  Central  Bank  by  national  authorities  regarding  draft 
legislative provisions1, as the draft law relates to rules applicable to financial institutions insofar as they 

materially  influence  the  stability  of  financial  institutions  and  markets.  In  accordance  with  the  first 

sentence of Article 17.5 of the Rules of Procedure of the European Central Bank, the Governing Council 

has adopted this opinion. 

1. 

Purpose of the revised draft law 

The  revised  draft  law  has  a  limited  scope  compared  to  the  draft  law  and  is  mainly  addressing  the 

governance  and  management  structure  of  the  Federal  Financial  Supervisory  Authority  (BaFin, 

Bundesanstalt  für  Finanzdienstleistungsaufsicht).  In  particular,  the  revised  draft  law  introduces  the 

principle  of  collegiality  for  the  Directorate’s  decision-making  by  replacing  the  existing  presidential 
structure2.  Henceforth,  the  Directorate  will  consist  of  a  president  and  four  executive  directors.  The 

Directorate’s responsibilities will include decision-making with regard to the BaFin’s rules of procedure, 

adoption  of  its  statute,  the  budget,  as  well  as  decisions  where  there  are  differences  of  opinion  between 

Directorate  members  and  the  adoption  of  administrative  regulations.  Moreover,  each  executive  director 

1  
2  

OJ L 189, 3.7.1998, p. 42. 
Article 1(2) of the revised draft law amending § 6 of the Law on financial services supervision. 

 
 
 
 
                                                 
will  be  responsible  for  one  of  the  following  four  business  areas:  fundamental  issues  and  internal 

administration, banking supervision, insurance supervision and securities supervision. 

According  to  Article  1(2)  of  the  revised  draft  law,  the  Directorate  will  unanimously  adopt  the 

organisation’s  statute  laying  down  the  Directorate’s  responsibilities  and  functions.  It  will  adopt  its 

decisions by simple majority of the submitted votes, even in case of disagreement. The Directorate will 

also  establish  rules  of  procedure  for  the  BaFin.  Pursuant  to  Article  1(3)  of  the  revised  draft  law,  the 

Directorate has to inform the administrative council of its management. 

These changes to the BaFin’s governance and management structure make it necessary to also amend the 

Law on remuneration of the Federal civil service. The increased  responsibility of the BaFin’s Board of 
Directors will result in the future salary classification of executive directors in class B 83. 

2. 

General observations 

The ECB welcomes the introduction of collegial decision-making for the Directorate’s decision-making 
in the area of prudential supervision4 and, in view of the limited scope of the revised draft law, has no 

further observations.  

This opinion will be published on the ECB’s website. 

Done at Frankfurt am Main, 15 October 2007. 

[signed] 

The President of the ECB 

Jean-Claude TRICHET 

3  
4  

Article 2 of the revised draft law amending Appendix I to the Law on remuneration of the Federal civil service. 
See,  e.g.  paragraph  3  of  ECB  Opinion  CON/2005/58  of  23 December 2005  at  the  request  of  the  Italian  Ministry  of 
Economy and Finance on an amendment to the draft law on the protection of savings concerning the Banca d’Italia. 

2