‘Chinese Walls’ within the European Central Bank after the Establishment of the Single Supervisory Mechanism

This article overviews systematically the provisions laid down in secondary EU law with regard to the creation of ‘Chinese walls' within the European Central Bank (the ‘ECB') after the establishment of the Single Supervisory Mechanism (the ‘SSM'), in order to ensure that the ECB carries out its (new) specific supervisory tasks separately from its tasks relating to the definition and implementation of the single monetary policy and from its other tasks. It is structured in three (3) sections:(a) Section 1 provides an overview of the main features of the basic legal act governing the SSM, notably Council Regulation (EU) No 1024/2013, a classification of the ECB tasks, as currently in force, and the rationale underlying the adoption of the principle of separation between the ECB's supervisory and other tasks.(b) This is followed by Section 2, which examines the general provisions of the regulatory framework governing the ‘Chinese walls' within the ECB.(c) Finally, Section 3 deals in particular with the ‘Mediation Panel', a new internal ECB body established by virtue of Article 25 of the above Council Regulation