Are EU Banks Safe?

‘Are EU Banks Safe?’ is of interest to those involved in the debate on changing or maintaining the way prudential banking supervision is structured and performed. It builds on the descriptive companion book ‘EU Banking Supervision’ by the same author, but focuses on what banking supervision should do, and whether it is deliverable. Do and can banks and supervisors deliver what it says on the box, and is the description on the box correct in the first place? This analysis flows from the personal experience and expertise of the author, gathered as a customer of banks, as a legal, supervisory, and policy advisor on banking regulation, and from his involvement in national, EU and worldwide negotiations on new legislation. The book asks questions about whether the current focus on quantitative demands and incremental improvements is correct; whether the definition of ‘bank’ covers all institutions that should be as safe as a bank; and who is responsible if banks, their regulators and their supervisors fail?