Yannis Stournaras, the governor of the Bank of Greece, stated at the conference "Banking Resolution at Ten: Experiences and Open Issues" that there is a need to move forward with the harmonization of national deposit guarantee schemes. "As he said, "no bank should be allowed to pass on the cost of its own mismanagement to the taxpayer simply because it is considered 'too big to fail'.

"However", he stressed, "a bank's exit from the banking market should be carried out in an orderly manner, should not disrupt the provision of critical functions, should not jeopardise the financial stability of the banking system as a whole and should prevent unnecessary impairment".

Referring to the reform of the resolution system that has taken place in recent years , he argued that through the efforts of the Single Resolution Mechanism, banks in the Union have become more resolvable and therefore safer. "Not only have they increased their capacity to absorb losses, but they have also developed their skills in all aspects to contribute to the resolution capability. In addition, the Single Resolution Fund has achieved its target amount as it has been fully funded and has mutualized the related funds," he noted.

"However," as he cautioned, "the above does not mean that we should rest on our laurels."

It will be recalled that three weeks ago, on 24 April, the European Parliament completed the first reading of the proposed legislative texts on crisis management and deposit insurance. The texts that the Parliament adopted demonstrate its support for the Commission's general recommendations. The main difference relates to its proposal to adopt two tiers as opposed to a single tier for depositors in the classification of claims in special resolution.

However, as Stournaras explained, the Commission's existing proposals still fail to address the most important missing element in the crisis management framework for European banks. This is the creation of the third pillar of the Banking Union, the European Deposit Guarantee Scheme (EDIS), which some Member States still do not support.