European Systemic Risk Board
The European Systemic Risk Board (ESRB) is a group established on 16 December 2010 in response to the ongoing financial crisis. It is tasked with the macro-prudential oversight of the financial system within the European Union in order to contribute to the prevention or mitigation of systemic risks to financial stability in the EU. It shall contribute to the smooth functioning of the internal market and thereby ensure a sustainable contribution of the financial sector to economic growth. The ESRB is an independent body of the EU and it is part of the European System  of Financial Supervision (ESFS), the purpose of which is to ensure the supervision of the EU's financial system. The ESRB is hosted and supported by the European Central Bank. It includes representatives from the ECB, national central banks and supervisory authorities of EU member states, and the European Commission. Overview. The operation of the board has been entrusted to the European Central Bank and the first Chair of the ESRB was Jean-Claude Trichet. Currently the ESRB is chaired by Christine Lagarde, the ECB president. In order to take advantage of existing and compatible structures, and to minimise any  delay to the commencement of its operations, the ECB provides analytical, statistical, administrative and logistical support to the ESRB, and technical advice is also drawn from national central banks, supervisors and an independent scientific committee. Ieke van den Burg Prize for research on systemic risk. The ESRB's Advisory Scientific Committee awards the annual Ieke van den Burg Prize for outstanding research conducted by young academics on a topic related to the ESRB's mission. The prize is named in honor of Ieke van den Burg, for her work on financial stability. The winning paper is usually presented at the  ESRB Annual Conference and published in the ESRB Working Paper Series.