Buch calls for independent watchers of banking supervision
ECB Supervisory Board Chair Claudia Buch called for an independent community of watchers to scrutinise banking regulation. Speaking in Frankfurt on September 15, 2026, Buch warned against lowering bank capital requirements to pursue short-term competitiveness.
Overcoming industry imbalance in policy debates
Addressing a conference at Goethe University Frankfurt, Buch highlighted an imbalance in regulatory debates, noting that private sector entities accounted for two-thirds of the 227 responses to the European Commission's banking competitiveness consultation.
In contrast, academia, trade unions, non-governmental organisations and citizens made up only 19 percent.
To balance industry lobbying, Buch advocated building a broad community of analysts, researchers and journalists equipped with robust evaluation infrastructure.
She pointed to empirical repositories such as the BIS FRAME database and the EBA Pillar 3 data hub as critical tools to assess the true macroeconomic impact of prudential standards.
Evidence refutes lending cuts from capital rules
Buch stressed that empirical literature disproves claims that higher capital requirements hinder long-term credit supply.
Instead, adequately capitalised institutions sustain lending more effectively during downturns and benefit from lower funding costs.
Furthermore, Buch noted that European deviations from the Basel framework, such as supporting factors for small and medium-sized enterprises and infrastructure, produced no evidence of stimulating additional credit.
“Capital aligns incentives between banks and society,” Buch stated, rejecting regulatory rollbacks.
Accountability cannot depend on bank lobbying
Buch correctly highlights how banking debates remain skewed toward industry lobbies at the expense of taxpayers.
Yet better research data alone will not insulate supervisors from intensifying political pressure to deregulate.
The ECB must demonstrate that empirical evidence can actually hold the line against softening capital standards.