Draghi Says ECB Won’t Be Overburdened by Bank Oversight Role

European Central Bank President Mario Draghi said his institution has the competence to supervise the euro region’s banks and sought to lay to rest concerns that it may be overburdened by the task.

“Some observers have suggested that the presence in the same institution of monetary policy and supervisory decisions can lead to excessive burdens, a potential confusion of roles and/or distorted incentives,” Draghi said in a speech at a banking congress in Frankfurt today. While those concerns “must be taken seriously,” building a single supervisor around the ECB “is the only pragmatic” option “in the present circumstances,” he said.