Traineeships in SSM decision-making and banking supervision at European Central Bank

In your role as a trainee, you will be involved in the ECB’s banking supervision work conducted under the Single Supervisory Mechanism (SSM) – the system of banking supervision in Europe. The SSM comprises the ECB and the national supervisory authorities of the participating countries (the national competent authorities).

You will be part of a highly qualified and dedicated multicultural team within the Directorate General Secretariat to the Supervisory Board, which assists the Supervisory Board with the SSM decision-making process, ensures individual supervisory decisions are of a high quality and supports other SSM business areas. You will join one of the following divisions: the SSM Decision-Making Division, the Authorisation Division, the Enforcement and Sanctions Division or the Supervisory Quality Assurance Division. You will be asked to select one of these areas of work during the application process.

The SSM Decision-Making Division helps the Supervisory Board to ensure effective and efficient decision-making in the SSM. The Division cooperates closely with other ECB Banking Supervision business areas and the national competent authorities, guiding them through the SSM decision-making process.

The Authorisation Division ensures effective and efficient supervision at the market entry level with regard to requests for authorisations (banking licences). Furthermore, the Division ensures that requests for authorisations are processed in a timely manner, with due care and using European banking supervision methodologies and that the criteria set out in relevant EU and national laws are met. The Banking Market Access Section is primarily responsible for assessing new banking licences, the withdrawal of banking licences and acquisitions of qualifying holdings in banks. The Boards Suitability Assessment Section is primarily responsible for the assessment of the suitability of board members, key function holders and branch managers in banks. The Division is seeking several trainees to support these sections and one trainee to support our project to set up an authorisation portal for banks.

The Enforcement and Sanctions Division is responsible for investigating alleged breaches of prudential regulations and supervisory decisions, and for proposing the exercise of the powers granted to the ECB to enforce applicable regulations and supervisory decisions within the SSM, as well as the powers to investigate alleged breaches of those legal acts. The Division also operates the ECB’s breach reporting mechanism.

The main task of the Supervisory Quality Assurance Division is to carry out quality reviews, for quality assurance and advisory purposes, on SSM supervisory processes, deliverables and processes to identify good practice and propose improvements for business areas and operating units, with the support of the quality assurance function of the national competent authorities where relevant. The Division also leads different projects and activities that contribute to high-quality supervision, such as the SSM Training Curriculum, innovative technologies in banking supervision, supporting the self-assessment of business units and following up on internal and external auditors’ recommendations. The Division also contributes to the SSM’s operational risk management and business continuity.

The ECB is an inclusive employer and we strive to reflect the diversity of the population we serve. We encourage you to apply, irrespective of your gender, gender identity, ethnicity, sexual orientation, age, religion, disability or other characteristics.

Your Role
Your tasks as a trainee will be supervised and will vary according to the unit you join.

As a trainee in the SSM Decision-Making Division, you will have the opportunity to contribute to one or more of the following tasks:

supporting the SSM decision-making process. This includes reviewing documentation, recording adopted decisions and monitoring follow-up actions;
ensuring that supervisory decisions are sound and adequately founded, and assessing divergent opinions received in the course of the decision-making process;
liaising and sharing information with other ECB Banking Supervision business areas and the national competent authorities on all issues related to the decision-making process;
supporting the administration and organisation of meetings, in particular of the Supervisory Board and the Steering Committee, as well as the preparation of briefing materials and presentations;
supporting the fulfilment of the accountability obligations of the SSM vis-à-vis the European Parliament and the European Council.

As a trainee in the Authorisation Division, you will have the opportunity to contribute to one or more of the following tasks:
conducting substantive supervisory assessments in cooperation with the national competent authorities and the Joint Supervisory Teams in the ECB;
drafting supervisory decisions in the areas of fit and proper assessments, qualifying holdings, authorisations of credit institutions and withdrawals of authorisations;
supporting the Division in its internal processes (such as the organisation of workflows or international meetings), contributing to training and communication initiatives, maintaining data management tools and contributing to projects (e.g. organising industry workshops or conferences).

As a trainee in the Enforcement and Sanctions Division, you will have the opportunity to contribute to one or more of the following tasks:
developing general policies related to the exercise of the ECB’s supervisory powers, in particular through internal SSM working groups and networks involving national competent authorities;
supporting the administration and organisation of meetings and preparing briefing materials, presentations, charts and statistics;
supporting the fulfilment of the accountability obligations of the SSM through issuing publications and responding to public access requests;
assessing suspected breaches of regulations and requirements, investigating alleged breaches and supporting the decision-making process for administrative penalties and enforcement measures;
developing and maintaining data management tools used for assessing and recording suspected breaches.

As a trainee in the Supervisory Quality Assurance Division, you will have the opportunity to contribute to one or more of the following tasks:
contributing to projects on innovation and SSM communication, simplifying internal processes and supporting self-assessments of operations and business units;
coordinating the SSM’s operational risk management and supporting its supervisory training courses;
providing advisory support, conducting assurance reviews in cooperation with the national competent authorities and following up on internal and external auditors’ recommendations.

The traineeships offer you excellent opportunities to gain insights into how the Directorate Secretariat to the Supervisory Board works, acquire hands-on experience in an area of interest to you and put your theoretical knowledge into practice.

Further details:
Traineeships in SSM decision-making and banking supervision at European Central Bank