ECB Outlines Plans to Reduce Oversight Burden on Banks Next Year

The European Central Bank will enact a raft of changes next year to make its supervision of lenders more effective and reduce costs for the industry.

The ECB said it will speed up approval processes for straight-forward decisions on how banks use excess capital, including for some share buybacks in the first quarter.

Investigations conducted at lenders’ premises will become “more targeted” in the second half and by the end of 2026, the ECB will need less time to approve changes to banks’ models of the risks they face.

The ECB’s efforts to overhaul its oversight arm date back to ...