ECB Attendance at Bank Board Meetings
Dear European Central Bank,
Under the right of access to documents in the EU treaties, as developed in Regulation 1049/2001, I am requesting documents which contain the following information:
For the period between 1 January 2015 to date,
- a list of all bank board meetings attended (or planned to be attended) by representatives of the ECB (including the name of attending representatives)
- the format of attendance (in presence or virtually)
- the general selection criteria according to which bank board meetings are attended
by the ECB
- all minutes, meeting notes and summaries of these board meetings;
- all correspondence, including attachments (including, but not limited to, emails, letters, and/or telephone call notes), between the ECB and supervised entities in regards to these board meetings; and
- all documents prepared for the purpose of these board meetings and/or exchanged during the course of these board meetings.
Please don’t hesitate to contact me if you have any questions in regards to my request.
Thank you in advance.
Yours faithfully,
Frederik Kohl
Dear Mr Kohl,
Thank you for your request dated 10 February 2023 for access to European
Central Bank (ECB) documents.
Yours sincerely,
Compliance and Governance Office
DG Secretariat
European Central Bank
Sonnemannstrasse 20
60314 Frankfurt am Main
[1][email address]
Privacy notice: By submitting a request for access to documents, the ECB
collects information about you for the sole purpose of processing your
request in accordance with Decision ECB/2004/3. All personal data are
processed in accordance with EU Data Protection Law (Regulation (EU)
2018/1725 of the European Parliament and of the Council). The ECB is the
controller for the processing of the personal data. The recipients of the
data will be the ECB’s Compliance and Governance Office and, only when
necessary, other institutions within the European System of Central Banks,
the Single Supervisory Mechanism, or EU institutions.
You have the right to restrict processing and to access, rectify and under
certain conditions to request deletion of your stored personal data. You
can exercise your rights by contacting the ECB's Compliance and Governance
Office ([2][email address]) or the ECB’s Data Protection
Officer ([3][email address]).Furthermore, you have the right to address
the European Data Protection Supervisor ([4]www.edps.europa.eu) any time
regarding this processing of your personal data.
Dear Mr. Kohl,
In reply to your email of 10 February 2023, we would like to inform you
that attendance of management body meetings by ECB banking supervision
representatives is one of the supervisory tools aiming to support the
overall governance assessment of the supervised institutions. Supervisors
do not attend to meetings on a regular basis but just occasionally and
with the specific goal of understanding how a bank is governed. Such
attendance is being decided on a case-by-case basis considering the
relevant case-specific circumstances.
As the ECB does not have a central register listing all bank board
meetings attended between 2015 and 2023 and/or the format of attendance
for each meeting, the assessment of your request (e.g. identification of
an elaborate set of documents over 8 years across all significant
institutions currently or formerly supervised by the ECB) would require
not only disproportionate resources but also goes well beyond the scope of
the Decision ECB/2004/3 whose purpose is to “enhance the administration's
legitimacy, effectiveness and accountability, thus strengthening the
principles of democracy”.
Taking into account the foregoing and in the spirit of Article 6.3 the
Decision ECB/2004/3, we would kindly invite you to narrow down the scope
of your request e.g. by specifying its focus and/or limiting the
categories of documents requested and/or reducing the sample of credit
institutions concerned.
In this context we also would like to draw your attention to Article 27 of
the SSM Regulation [1]Council Regulation (EU) No 1024/2013 of
15 October 2013 conferring specific tasks on the European Central Bank
concerning policies relating to the prudential supervision of credit
institutions (OJ L 287, 29.10.2013, p. 63). and Article 53 of the Capital
Requirements Directive [2]Directive 2013/36/EU of the European
Parliament and of the Council of 26 June 2013 on access to the activity of
credit institutions and the prudential supervision of credit institutions
and investment firms, amending Directive 2002/87/EC and repealing
Directives 2006/48/EC and 2006/49/EC (OJ L 176, 27.6.2013, p. 338). which
protect confidential supervisory information by imposing an obligation of
professional secrecy.
Once we have received your answer, we will revert to you in due course.
Kind regards,
Compliance and Governance Office
DG Secretariat
European Central Bank
Sonnemannstrasse 20
60314 Frankfurt am Main
[3][email address]
[4]Council Regulation (EU) No 1024/2013 of 15 October 2013
conferring specific tasks on the European Central Bank concerning policies
relating to the prudential supervision of credit institutions (OJ L 287,
29.10.2013, p. 63).
^2 [5]Directive 2013/36/EU of the European Parliament and of the
Council of 26 June 2013 on access to the activity of credit institutions
and the prudential supervision of credit institutions and investment
firms, amending Directive 2002/87/EC and repealing Directives 2006/48/EC
and 2006/49/EC (OJ L 176, 27.6.2013, p. 338).
Dear Mr Kohl,
We refer to our below email dated 28 February 2023 and would kindly invite
you to narrow down the scope of your request e.g. by specifying its focus
and/or limiting the categories of documents requested and/or reducing the
sample of credit institutions concerned.
We would appreciate to receive your reply by 28 March 2023.
Kind regards,
Compliance and Governance Office
DG Secretariat
European Central Bank
Sonnemannstrasse 20
60314 Frankfurt am Main
[1][email address]
Dear European Central Bank,
Thank you very much for your response. I fully understand that my request is wide in scope. However, the attendance of ECB representatives at banks’ board meetings is a controversial supervisory measure that has recently received significant attention from bank lobbyists and the financial press. Understanding the extent, context and content of such measure is therefore in the public interest and in line with Decision ECB/2004/3 to enhance the administration’s effectiveness via a commitment to transparent processes.
This notwithstanding I am also aware of the resource intensity that goes along with my request. Following earlier precedents on similarly extensive requests (e.g., on ECB meetings with BlackRock and lobby organisations) and pursuant to Article 6.3 of Decision ECB/2004/3, I would be prepared to receive responses to my request in smaller batches. For instance, I would kindly propose to break down my request into smaller samples of credit institutions on a country-by-country basis.
I would appreciate if you reconsidered my request on this basis and would like to thank you very much in advance.
Yours sincerely,
Frederik Kohl
Dear Mr Kohl,
Please find attached the reply of the European Central Bank (ECB) to your
request of 10 February 2023 for access to ECB documents.
Yours sincerely,
Compliance and Governance Office
DG Secretariat
European Central Bank
Sonnemannstrasse 20
60314 Frankfurt am Main
[1][email address]
Privacy notice: By submitting a request for access to documents, the ECB
collects information about you for the sole purpose of processing your
request in accordance with Decision ECB/2004/3. All personal data are
processed in accordance with EU Data Protection Law (Regulation (EU)
2018/1725 of the European Parliament and of the Council). The ECB is the
controller for the processing of the personal data. The recipients of the
data will be the ECB’s Compliance and Governance Office and, only when
necessary, other institutions within the European System of Central Banks,
the Single Supervisory Mechanism, or EU institutions.
You have the right to restrict processing and to access, rectify and under
certain conditions to request deletion of your stored personal data. You
can exercise your rights by contacting the ECB's Compliance and Governance
Office ([2][email address]) or the ECB’s Data Protection
Officer ([3][email address]).Furthermore, you have the right to address
the European Data Protection Supervisor ([4]www.edps.europa.eu) any time
regarding this processing of your personal data.
Dear European Central Bank,
Thank you very much for your response. I fully understand that my request is wide in scope. Following up on your prior invitation, I am therefore prepared to narrow down the scope of my request as follows:
1.) In a first step, I request only a list of all bank board meetings attended (or planned to be attended) by representatives of the ECB (including the name of attending representatives and the format of attendance) for the period between 1 January 2016 to date. Whilst I acknowledge that a dedicated central register of bank board meetings attended does not exist, I firmly believe that this is information that can be compiled at a reasonable workload. In fact, such lists were also individually prepared for other requests before (e.g., on ECB meetings with BlackRock and lobby organisations).
2.) For a much smaller sample of institutions supervised by the ECB and established in Germany, I kindly request for the period between 1 January 2016 to date:
- all minutes, meeting notes and summaries of these board meetings;
- all correspondence, including attachments (including, but not limited to, emails, letters, and/or telephone call notes), between the ECB and supervised entities in regards to these board meetings; and
- all documents prepared for the purpose of these board meetings and/or exchanged during the course of these board meetings
I would like to emphasise again that the attendance of ECB representatives at banks’ board meetings is a controversial supervisory measure that has received significant attention from bank lobbyists and the financial press. Understanding the extent, context and content of such measure is very much in the public interest and in line with Decision ECB/2004/3 to enhance the administration’s effectiveness via a commitment to transparent processes.
I would appreciate if you reconsidered my request on this basis and would like to thank you very much in advance.
Yours sincerely,
Frederik Kohl
Dear Mr Kohl,
Thank you for your request dated 14 June 2023 for access to European
Central Bank (ECB) documents, which we received.
In accordance with Article 7(1) of [1]Decision ECB/2004/3 of the European
Central Bank, you will receive a reply within 20 working days.
Yours sincerely,
Compliance and Governance Office
DG Secretariat
European Central Bank
Sonnemannstrasse 20
60314 Frankfurt am Main
[2][email address]
Privacy notice: By submitting a request for access to documents, the ECB
collects information about you for the sole purpose of processing your
request in accordance with [3]Decision ECB/2004/3. All personal data are
processed in accordance with EU Data Protection Law ([4]Regulation (EU)
2018/1725 of the European Parliament and of the Council). The ECB is the
controller for the processing of the personal data. The recipients of the
data will be the ECB’s Compliance and Governance Office and, only when
necessary, other institutions within the European System of Central Banks,
the Single Supervisory Mechanism, or EU institutions.
You have the right to restrict processing and to access, rectify and under
certain conditions to request deletion of your stored personal data. You
can exercise your rights by contacting the ECB's Compliance and Governance
Office ([5][email address]) or the ECB’s Data Protection
Officer ([6][email address]).Furthermore, you have the right to address
the European Data Protection Supervisor ([7]www.edps.europa.eu) any time
regarding this processing of your personal data.
Dear Mr Kohl,
Thank you for your continued interest in the ECB’s banking supervision and
the practice of banking supervisors to participate in board meetings of
the supervised institutions.
Your request at hand follows up on your earlier request from February of
this year
(1) reiterating your request for “a list of all bank board meetings
attended (or planned for attendance) by representatives of the ECB
(including the name of attending representatives and the format of
attendance) for the period between 1 January 2016 to date” and
(2) requesting for “institutions supervised by the ECB and established in
Germany, […] for the period between 1 January 2016 to date:
• all minutes, meeting notes and summaries of these board meetings;
• all correspondence, including attachments (including, but not limited
to, emails, letters, and/or telephone call notes), between the ECB and
supervised entities in regard to these board meetings; and
• all documents prepared for the purpose of these board meetings and/or
exchanged during the course of these board meetings.”
Narrowing your request down to board meeting attendances at German
Significant Institutions between 2016 and 2023 indeed reduces the overall
request’s scope compared to the initial one from February. Nonetheless,
your request still pertains to around one fifth of the banks directly
supervised by the ECB and covers more than seven years. In this context we
have already informed you in our reply of 20 April 2023 about how the
document identification, assessment and redaction process for such
requests would need to be conducted.
Taking the above into consideration we are currently assessing how to best
address your request in order to– in accordance with the legal framework–
find a fair solution for both sides.
In this context we think it could make sense – as an interim step – to
explore together with you the perimeter and background of your request and
explain the supervisory tool of occasionally observing board meetings in
the context of our supervisory approach.
In order to facilitate a direct exchange, we’d propose a conference call.
We have set aside three slots for a possible call: Slot 1 – Thursday, 20
July 16:00-16:45h, Slot 2 – Friday, 21 July 15:00-15:45h Slot 3 – Friday,
22 July 16:00-16:45. Please understand that the discussions in the call de
facto tailoring your request, would start the processing steps for the
request only thereafter.
We kindly ask you to indicate whether you would like to take this
opportunity for a direct dialogue and, if so, also indicate which of the
three slots would fit your schedule by this Friday, 14 July close of
business.
Kind regards,
Compliance and Governance Office
DG Secretariat
European Central Bank
Sonnemannstrasse 20
60314 Frankfurt am Main
[1][email address]
From: Access to documents <[2][email address]>
Sent: Friday, June 16, 2023 15:47
To: Frederik Kohl <[3][FOI #12586 email]>
Cc: Access to documents <[4][email address]>
Subject: ECB Acknowledgement of receipt - Request for access to documents
- Bank Board Meetings
Dear Mr Kohl,
Thank you for your request dated 14 June 2023 for access to European
Central Bank (ECB) documents, which we received.
In accordance with Article 7(1) of [5]Decision ECB/2004/3 of the European
Central Bank, you will receive a reply within 20 working days.
Yours sincerely,
Compliance and Governance Office
DG Secretariat
European Central Bank
Sonnemannstrasse 20
60314 Frankfurt am Main
[6][email address]
Privacy notice: By submitting a request for access to documents, the ECB
collects information about you for the sole purpose of processing your
request in accordance with [7]Decision ECB/2004/3. All personal data are
processed in accordance with EU Data Protection Law ([8]Regulation (EU)
2018/1725 of the European Parliament and of the Council). The ECB is the
controller for the processing of the personal data. The recipients of the
data will be the ECB’s Compliance and Governance Office and, only when
necessary, other institutions within the European System of Central Banks,
the Single Supervisory Mechanism, or EU institutions.
You have the right to restrict processing and to access, rectify and under
certain conditions to request deletion of your stored personal data. You
can exercise your rights by contacting the ECB's Compliance and Governance
Office ([9][email address]) or the ECB’s Data Protection
Officer ([10][email address]).Furthermore, you have the right to address
the European Data Protection Supervisor ([11]www.edps.europa.eu) any time
regarding this processing of your personal data.
Dear European Central Bank,
Thank you very much for your response and your kind offer to discuss my request in an open dialogue. I very much welcome this suggestion and would be available for a call during the second slot you proposed on Friday, 21 July at 15:00. For any further details, please feel free to contact me using my work email which can be found here: https://www.bwl.uni-mannheim.de/en/wuest....
May I just clarify at this point that, as an interim step, I am particularly interested in the first part of my request, namely a list of all bank board meetings (not just those of supervised German institutions) attended (or planned) to be attended by representatives of the ECB. I would presume that identifying attendance does not require detailed screening of a large pool of documents. Such a list would help greatly in further specifying the type of documents I am requesting. Whilst I understand that general processing of my request will only resume after the call next week, I would like to request whether compilation of such a list could already be initiated in the meantime.
I would like to thank you very much for your cooperation and careful consideration of my request.
Yours sincerely,
Frederik Kohl
Dear Mr Kohl,
Following our bilateral communication and your agreement to a fair
solution stated in your email of 25 August 2023, we started processing
a. a sample case for an anonymised German SI, starting from the year
2022, while
b. Composition and Rotations of Joint Supervisory Teams will be on hold
and will be processed thereafter.
We therefore consider this file closed.
Yours sincerely,
Compliance and Governance Office
DG Secretariat
European Central Bank
Sonnemannstrasse 20
60314 Frankfurt am Main
[1][email address]
Dear Mr Kohl,
Please be informed that we will now start processing your request for
access to documents relating to “Composition and Rotations of Joint
Supervisory Teams”.
In accordance with Article 7(1) of [1]Decision ECB/2004/3 of the European
Central Bank, you will receive a reply within 20 working days.
Yours sincerely,
Compliance and Governance Office
DG Secretariat
European Central Bank
Sonnemannstrasse 20
60314 Frankfurt am Main
[2][email address]
_____________________________________________
From: Access to documents <[email address]>
Sent: 06 September 2023 15:16
To: [FOI #12586 email]
Cc: Access to documents <[email address]>
Subject: File closed: Call offer - Request for access to documents - Bank
Board Meetings
Dear Mr Kohl,
Following our bilateral communication and your agreement to a fair
solution stated in your email of 25 August 2023, we started processing
a. a sample case for an anonymised German SI, starting from the year
2022, while
b. Composition and Rotations of Joint Supervisory Teams will be on hold
and will be processed thereafter.
We therefore consider this file closed.
Yours sincerely,
Compliance and Governance Office
DG Secretariat
European Central Bank
Sonnemannstrasse 20
60314 Frankfurt am Main
[3][email address]
Dear Mr Kohl,
Please find attached the ECB’s reply to your request for access to
documents relating to “Composition and Rotations of Joint Supervisory
Teams”.
Yours sincerely,
Compliance and Governance Office
DG Secretariat
European Central Bank
Sonnemannstrasse 20
60314 Frankfurt am Main
[1][email address]
_____________________________________________
From: Access to documents <[email address]>
Sent: 20 October 2023 20:58
To: [FOI #12586 email]
Cc: Access to documents <[email address]>
Subject: RE: Request for access to documents - Composition and Rotations
of Joint Supervisory Teams
Dear Mr Kohl,
Please be informed that we will now start processing your request for
access to documents relating to “Composition and Rotations of Joint
Supervisory Teams”.
In accordance with Article 7(1) of [2]Decision ECB/2004/3 of the European
Central Bank, you will receive a reply within 20 working days.
Yours sincerely,
Compliance and Governance Office
DG Secretariat
European Central Bank
Sonnemannstrasse 20
60314 Frankfurt am Main
[3][email address]
_____________________________________________
From: Access to documents <[4][email address]>
Sent: 06 September 2023 15:16
To: [5][FOI #12586 email]
Cc: Access to documents <[6][email address]>
Subject: File closed: Call offer - Request for access to documents - Bank
Board Meetings
Dear Mr Kohl,
Following our bilateral communication and your agreement to a fair
solution stated in your email of 25 August 2023, we started processing
a. a sample case for an anonymised German SI, starting from the year
2022, while
b. Composition and Rotations of Joint Supervisory Teams will be on hold
and will be processed thereafter.
We therefore consider this file closed.
Yours sincerely,
Compliance and Governance Office
DG Secretariat
European Central Bank
Sonnemannstrasse 20
60314 Frankfurt am Main
[7][email address]