PRESS RELEASE – Academic joint venture for bank regulation & supervision now includes private sector – EBI Europe

PRESS RELEASE – Academic joint venture for bank regulation & supervision now includes private sector

Bank associations, Deloitte join European Banking Institute

FRANKFURT AM MAIN, 16 November 2016 – Banking associations from across Europe as well as international accounting firm Deloitte have joined the European Banking Institute (EBI) as supporting members in order to help develop international academic research on European banking regulation and supervision, the Institute said today.

The new bank sector members are the European Banking Federation as well as national banking associations from Germany, Greece, Italy, Romania, Spain and the Netherlands. Together they join the 22 universities from 15 European countries that already are academic members of the new institute.

“The involvement of the banking industry and the private sector is an important element of the European Banking Institute,” said Dr Thomas Gstaedtner, President of the Supervisory Board of the EBI. “It will provide our universities with a practical angle on the problems, and can provide precious information on the development of the banking industry. This will lead to more relevant research.”

EBI aspires producing state-of-the-art academic research in the field of banking regulation now that banking regulation and supervision have become European as a result of Banking Union. The institute was established in January of this year as a non-profit organisation in Frankfurt in order to share, coordinate and structure academic research activities in Europe.

“Creating a truly European research institute in this field is a logical consequence of Banking Union,” said Dr Gstaedtner. “An academic perspective is required. European supervision is a challenge from an economic, a legal and from an accounting perspective. The EBI has the geographical reach and the technical expertise to produce truly European academic research in this field. This makes it a unique research network.”

The national banking associations that now have joined the EBI are the Association of German Banks (BDB), the Hellenic Bank Association (HBA), the Italian Banking Association (ABI), the Romanian Banking Association (ARB), the Spanish Banking Association (AEB) and the Dutch Banking Association (NVB).

The academic membership of the institute currently includes universities from Amsterdam, Athens, Bologna, Bonn, Dublin, Frankfurt, Ghent, Leiden, Lisbon, Ljubljana, Luxembourg, Madrid, Mainz, Malta, Milan, Nicosia, Nijmegen, Paris, Stockholm and Tartu.

More organisations expected to join

At its first Annual Global Conference on 28 October 2016 in Frankfurt, Enrico Leone, Chancellor of the EBI said the institute expects more organisations will join its network in the near future, including national central banks, international public institutions and universities in the United Kingdom.

“The European Banking Institute has been designed to facilitate the interaction of universities, regulators, supervisors and banking industry in Europe and to improve the understanding of the real issues affecting this sector and develop viable solutions,” Mr Leone said.

“The EBI is open to all European universities which have expertise in the area of banking research. This includes British universities. Brexit does not apply to academia and the European Banking Institute and we seriously hope that British universities will join the EBI in the near future,” he said.

Besides Dr Thomas Gstaedtner as President of the Supervisory Board and Enrico Leone as Chancellor of the EBI, the EBI leadership team includes Prof. Bart Joosen of the University of Amsterdam as President of its Academic Board.

Contact:

Dr. Thomas Gstaedtner (thomas.gstaedtner@ebi-edu.eu; +49 1775607066) and/or
Enrico Leone (enrico.leone@ebi-edu.eu; Tel.: +44 20 7825 3093)

More information on the EBI Annual Global Conference at Deutsche Bundesbank (external website)