The Single Resolution Mechanism

On 1 January 2016 the Single Resolution Mechanism (SRM) became fully operational. The SRM creates a framework for the uniform resolution of banks in the euro area and after the Single Supervisory Mechanism (SSM), it is the second pillar of the European Banking Union. Whereas the SSM aims to reduce the risk of bank failure by unifying the supervision of banks, the SRM's aim is to increase the likelihood that a bank has been made "safe to fail", if it is likely to fail; and to reduce the risk of a government having to bail out a bank, if it actually fails.The key actor in the framework of the SRM is the Single Resolution Board (SRB). The SRB is the European agency responsible for the effective and consistent functioning of the SRM. This entails a responsibility for drawing up resolution plans and adopting decisions relating to resolution for the institutions that are within its realm. The actual execution of the adopted resolution scheme must be closely monitored by the SRB, but is carried out by the national resolution authorities (NRA). For institutions that fall outside the scope of the SRBs powers, the national resolution authorities are competent to adopt resolution plans and to take resolution decisions, albeit under oversight of the SRB. The SRB will be in charge of the Single Resolution Fund, a European pool of money that is transferred from domestic resolution funds, financed by the banking sector and set up to ensure that medium-term funding support is available while a credit institution is being restructured.