FRANKFURT (AFX) - The European Central Bank governing council is to issue a statement tomorrow protesting against the apparent threat to central banks' control of banking supervision posed by the plans of several euro zone governments, Boersen-Zeitung reported citing ECB sources.
The statement will say that the eurosystem central banks have to be involved in the supervision of credit institutes and of risks, the sources said.
They added the ECB is not only unhappy about the recent proposals by Germany's Hans Eichel for a banking supervisory authority independent of the Bundesbank, but also by the plans of other countries to sideline the central banks in this area.
ECB president Wim Duisenberg said in February he has "the greatest concern" about Eichel's plans to relieve the Bundesbank of its banking supervisory powers.
Edgar Meister, the Bundesbank council member responsible for banking supervision, declined to comment to the paper.
He said the Bundesbank is no longer demanding complete control over banking supervision but must be involved in taking decisions in this area, rather than merely being informed about them.