The "Law and Practice of the Banking Union and of its governing Institutions (Cases and Materials)" is an attempt to connect those who wish to approach the framework of the Banking Union and investigate its (often hidden) features, with its legal sources and, in particular, with the practical implementation of these rules and their interpretation in case law.
The volume brings together the Lectures notes on the law and practice of the Banking Union, prepared by Lawyers of the Legal Department of Banca d'Italia at the University of Bologna, under an agreement between the Banca d'Italia and the Alma Mater, and subsequently elaborated to take account of further jurisprudential developments. It also benefits from contributions provided by experts from the Academia.
The volume consists of three parts. The first part provides an accurate description of the institutional and organizational aspects of the SSM, highlighting the complex allocation of tasks and powers between Union (ECB) and national authorities (NCAs) and the independence and accountability requirements of both.
In this context, the authors dedicate specific in-depth studies to those themes, which, from a legal perspective, concern the most interesting and at the same time the most debated aspects among insiders. Just to mention a few of them, the involvement of the NCAs in the ECB's supervisory proceedings, the application of national law by the ECB, the ECB's internal delegation of powers, the different set of safeguards applicable within the ECB supervisory and sanctioning procedures.
An illustration of the discipline of recovery plans and early intervention measures introduces the reader to the second part of the volume. This section, not unlike the first part, focuses on a detailed description of the allocation of tasks and powers between Union (the Single resolution board) and national authorities (the NRAs) and their independence and accountability requirements. While the analysis of the aspects relating to the resolution procedure is due to its centrality within the SRM, that concerning other features, such as those relating to the State aid regime in the banking sector or the compulsory administrative liquidation of banks, is due to the legal complexity and importance of the issues involved.
The third part of the volume deals with both the administrative and judicial review of the decisions taken within the SSM and the SRM. Indeed, aspects related to the judicial remedies (the shareholders’ locus standi in the context of the ECB's withdrawal of the banking license or the extent of the Court of Justice of the EU's assessment on the ECB's decisions, where they are extremely complex in technical terms) are dealt with together with others concerning the features and limits of the Administrative Board of Review and Appeal Panel's administrative review. The part concludes with a deep and detailed analysis of the SSM and SRM's liability issues.
As for the methodological approach, the authors start by examining how the rules are applied by the Union and national authorities and then verify whether that application is consistent with the case law of both the CJEU and the national apical Courts. However, this does not prevent the authors from raising criticism of the points of views expressed by the EU and national authorities and Courts, as shown, to give just a few examples, by the reflections on the scope of the ECB's national powers, the ECB's delegation framework or the so-called ECB’s indirect supervision on the less significant credit institutions.
