The ECB figures show the backlog of bank remediation requests has started to shrink. Around 12,000 supervisory measures were outstanding across significant banks at the end of 2025. In 2025 ECB Banking Supervision closed 1,200 more measures than it created. In 2026 the stock fell by a further 600. The ECB has not published how many measures were closed or created in absolute terms, the size of the stock before 2025, or how much the mid-October review will remove. Frank Elderson, Vice-Chair of the ECB Supervisory Board, gave the numbers in a contribution on 6 October 2026. The same figures appeared in an ECB Supervision Newsletter on 12 August 2026.
Where the figures come from
Elderson spoke on the panel "Effective Supervision and Enforcement" at the 17th FMA Supervisory Conference in Vienna. The ECB published his contribution as "Effective supervision through timely remediation". The 12 August newsletter, "Timely remediation for more resilient banks", carries the same figures and the plan for the review.
What the terms mean
- Finding: a shortcoming or prudential weakness that supervisors identify at a bank.
- Measure: the remedial action supervisors ask the bank to take in response.
- Severity: the ECB rates findings from F1 (low impact) to F4 (very high impact). A footnote in Elderson's contribution says measures are rated 1 to 4 on the same scale, from low to high impact.
- Closed and created: the 1,200 figure is the 2025 difference between measures closed by ECB Banking Supervision and measures newly created. The ECB has not published the two underlying totals.
Four figures, two kinds of number
| Figure | What it measures | Period or date |
|---|---|---|
| Around 12,000 | Stock of outstanding measures at significant banks | End of 2025 |
| Around 100 | Average measures per significant bank | End of 2025 |
| 1,200 | Measures closed minus measures created | Calendar 2025 |
| 600 | Further fall in the stock | 2026 |
The 12,000 and 100 figures are snapshots. The 1,200 and 600 figures are changes over a period. A large year-end stock and more closures than new measures in the same year can both be true.
There is no earlier comparison point. Elderson said the stock "had increased to around 12,000" but gave no starting figure, and the ECB has published no stock for 2023 or 2024. Severity within the stock ranged from very low to very high, with no breakdown by grade.
One related series does have a base year. The ECB's streamlining report says new qualitative SREP measures fell from about 700 in 2021 to less than 400 in 2025. That series covers only one type of measure and should not be combined with the 12,000 stock.
How the ECB's remediation backlog moved
Step through the dated changes, from the 2025 tiered model to the one-off review planned for mid-October 2026.
- 14 May 2025SREP reform newsletter sets out the tiered modeldone
Supervisors are to focus on the most severe findings, F3 and F4. Banks close F1 and F2 findings themselves once the actions are implemented, keep the evidence for five years, and may face sample checks.
- 10 July 2025Tiered follow-up model takes effectdone
The ECB's streamlining report gives this as the date the new tiered model for following up findings took effect.
- Calendar 20251,200 more measures closed than createddone
ECB Banking Supervision closed 1,200 more measures than it created. It has not published the two underlying totals.
- End of 2025Stock stands at around 12,000done
Around 12,000 supervisory measures were outstanding at significant banks, about 100 per bank on average. No earlier stock figure has been published.
- 2026Stock falls by a further 600done
Both ECB sources say only "in 2026" for this figure and give no end date.
- 12 August 2026Supervision Newsletter announces a one-off reviewdone
The newsletter repeats the figures and describes a one-off exercise on the existing stock, which lets supervisors drop or simplify follow-up on findings with limited prudential relevance.
- 6 October 2026Elderson repeats the figures in Viennadone
At the 17th FMA Supervisory Conference, Elderson said the refocusing exercise was "to be launched in mid-October" and that the changes are not lowering supervisory standards.
- Mid-October 2026Refocusing review of the stockplanned
The review weighs each item's severity, prudential relevance, remediation status, time elapsed and likelihood that further intervention is required. Banks will be told what it means for their own stock. The ECB has not confirmed the launch.
This timeline only orders the dates and figures the ECB has published: it does not show how many measures were closed or created in absolute terms, the stock before 2025, or how much the review will remove.
The tiered approach behind the decline
The ECB's streamlining report says the new tiered model for follow-up on findings took effect on 10 July 2025. Under the model announced in the May 2025 SREP reform newsletter:
- Supervisors focus on the most severe issues, F3 and F4 findings.
- Banks close F1 and F2 findings themselves once the actions are implemented, without delivering evidence to the supervisory team.
- Banks keep evidence for five years, and supervisors may run sample checks.
Elderson described further changes:
- Banks will be expected to confirm that they have taken sufficient action to ensure compliance, without submitting further documentation.
- The least severe F1 findings will in future be communicated as supervisory observations rather than generate measures.
- Low-severity F2 findings and measures will be handled more proportionately and may be closed.
- Mandatory verification of remediation by internal audit or internal validation will be removed for low-severity F1 or F2 findings related to internal models.
Review timing
Elderson said a refocusing exercise was "to be launched in mid-October" to critically review the stock of measures accumulated in recent years. The August newsletter calls it a one-off exercise applied to the existing stock. It lets supervisors discontinue or simplify follow-up on findings with limited prudential relevance, while banks remain responsible for remedying all identified findings on time.
The review weighs each item's:
- severity
- prudential relevance
- remediation status
- time elapsed since it was identified
- likelihood that further supervisory intervention is required
Banks are to receive information on the implications for their individual stock of findings and measures. The ECB said it will monitor the effects and provide updates.
Escalation stays in place
Elderson said the changes "are not lowering supervisory standards or reducing resilience." For material weaknesses not addressed in time, the ECB is making greater use of an escalation ladder with more intrusive tools. These include capital requirements and qualitative measures, business restrictions, and periodic penalty payments as enforcement measures.
