In the billion-dollar Wirecard balance sheet scandal, the Bafin was accused of extensive failure.
(Photo: dpa)
Berlin The Federal Ministry of Finance (BMF) will give the financial supervisory authority Bafin significantly more leeway in the future. This emerges from the new version of the “Principles for exercising the legal and technical supervision of the BMF over the Bafin” published on Tuesday.
The new version of the principles is significantly leaner than the previous regulation, which obliged the Bafin to involve the Ministry of Finance in decisions in advance on many points. The new regulation emphasizes the “operative independence” of financial supervision.
If the law does not provide for it, supervisory measures by the ministry should “generally not be checked ex ante”. This primarily refers to measures that affect individual institutes. The government remains involved in questions of national, European and international regulation. This also applies to measures with which the Bafin de facto sets general standards.
“When it comes to individual decisions regarding financial market participants, Bafin has special expertise. She is closer,” said Secretary of State for Finance Florian Toncar (FDP). “On the other hand, where standards are set for the market independently of the individual case, it is necessary for the BMF and Bafin to cooperate closely.”
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The new rules on cooperation between the Ministry of Finance and Bafin are a consequence of the Wirecard scandal. In the course of reviewing the role of Bafin, the European Financial Market Authority Esma criticized the close and detailed exchange between Bafin and the Ministry of Finance at the end of 2020. Esma saw “an increased risk of Treasury influence”.
“Risk-Based” Information
At the beginning of the year, State Secretary Toncar issued the motto in the Handelsblatt: “Important things must of course be reported to the ministry, but not every little thing. The Bafin should be a decision-making authority that does not have to constantly protect itself.”
In the future, the ministry no longer wants to be informed about all the details in advance. The new principles state that the Bafin informs the ministry in a “risk-oriented” manner. The ministry can also ask the Bafin for its assessment when it comes to individual companies or issues where “broad effects on the financial market as a whole or on a sector are to be feared”.
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The point of public relations is particularly lean: In future, Bafin will carry this out “on its own responsibility”. So far, the supervisory authority had to submit information to the press and interviews to the ministry in advance.
Bafin boss Mark Branson, who had been campaigning for greater independence for the supervisory authority since his nomination, was clearly satisfied with “these streamlined principles”: “As financial supervisors, we have to be able, courageously, to be clear on the matter, quickly and to act responsibly,” he said.
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