The Single Resolution Board (SRB) is the central resolution authority within the European Banking Union, headquartered in Brussels. It became fully operational on 1 January 2016 under Regulation (EU) No 806/2014, known as the Single Resolution Mechanism Regulation (SRMR). The SRB is the second of the three pillars of the Banking Union, alongside the Single Supervisory Mechanism (SSM) run by the ECB and the still-incomplete European Deposit Insurance Scheme (EDIS).
The SRB's core mandate is to ensure that failing banks can be wound down in an orderly way with minimal cost to taxpayers and without disrupting financial stability. It is directly responsible for the resolution planning and decision-making for:
- significant banks supervised directly by the ECB,
- other cross-border banking groups in participating member states, and
- any bank for which it chooses to exercise its powers.
National Resolution Authorities (NRAs) handle smaller, domestically focused banks but operate within the SRB's framework.
When a bank is failing or likely to fail, the SRB decides whether resolution is in the public interest and, if so, applies tools set out in the Bank Recovery and Resolution Directive (BRRD): sale of business, bridge institution, asset separation, and the bail-in tool, which writes down or converts shareholders' and creditors' claims before any public money is used. The SRB also manages the Single Resolution Fund (SRF), financed by levies on banks in participating member states, which can support resolution actions once private-sector loss absorption has been exhausted.
Notable cases include the June 2017 resolution of Banco Popular Español, sold to Santander for €1 after the SRB determined it was failing — the first full use of the SRM. The same week, the SRB declined to resolve two Venetian banks (Veneto Banca and Banca Popolare di Vicenza), which were instead wound up under Italian national insolvency law, exposing limits of the regime.
The Board comprises a Chair, Vice-Chair, four full-time members, and representatives of each participating NRA.
Example
In June 2017, the Single Resolution Board declared Banco Popular Español "failing or likely to fail" and executed its sale to Banco Santander for a symbolic €1, the first live test of the Single Resolution Mechanism.
Frequently asked questions
The ECB supervises banks for soundness through the Single Supervisory Mechanism; the SRB only steps in once a bank is failing or likely to fail, to manage its resolution.
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