Adapting the supervision of credit institutions to the COVID-19 crisis

Abstract

The Banco de España has had to adapt its supervisory priorities, methodologies and approaches to respond to the crisis triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic. This response has been coordinated with the European Central Bank (ECB) and the other regulatory and supervisory bodies with which it collaborates. Ongoing off-site monitoring activities have mainly adapted by realigning supervisory priorities, reassigning tasks and resources and changing procedures. This has ensured, since the onset of the crisis, the availability of timely information on the pandemic’s impact on institutions and the adoption of the measures required for them to continue providing banking services to the general public. Working from home has barely affected supervisory activity, since most of the teams already worked on a remote basis. On-site supervision, usually conducted physically at institutions, has had to adapt its methodology and processes to remote working. Following the return of the inspection teams posted at institutions in Spain and abroad, and the introduction of remote working, on-site inspections were reorganised and replanned. As a result, a significant volume of inspections was maintained and completed in 2020. In an adverse environment of heightened uncertainty, adapting the supervisory function to remote working has not only been successful, but it will also allow us to incorporate some of the lessons learned into our usual work procedures and methodologies.