On the 4th September 2014, the European Central Bank (ECB) published the final list of the 120 ‘significant credit institutions’, in respect of which it is to assume direct supervision as of the 4^th November 2014.

The significant credit institutions account for almost 85% of total banking assets in the euro area.

The significance assessment was based, primarily, on banks’ year-end 2013 figures, the total value of their assets, the importance for the economy of the country in which they are located or the EU as a whole, the scale of their cross-border activities and whether they have requested or received public financial assistance from the European Stability Mechanism (ESM) or the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF).

Accordingly, the ECB will directly supervise credit institutions, financial holding companies or mixed financial holding companies that are deemed significant at the highest level of consolidation within participating Member States.

Banks’ significance will be assessed on an ongoing basis.

The full list of significant credit institutions is available on ECB’s official website.