The European Banking Authority (EBA) is an independent EU authority, although it is accountable to the European Parliament, the EU Council and the European Commission. It is a component of the European System of Financial Supervision (ESFS), which consists of the national supervisory authorities and the three European supervisory authorities for banks, securities markets and insurance corporations (EBA, ESMA, EIOPA), the European Systemic Risk Board (ESRB), and the Joint Committee of the European Supervisory Authorities.

The EBA's decision-making body is known as the Board of Supervisors and consists of representatives of the national supervisory authorities as well as one representative each from the European Commission, ECB, ESRB, ESMA and EIOPA, and the chairman of the EBA. If the national supervisory authority is not the central bank, a representative of the central bank of the member state concerned can be added (without voting rights). Germany is represented in the Board of Supervisors by the Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin) and the Deutsche Bundesbank.

The EBA's task is to work with the EU member states' national supervisory authorities to ensure an effective and coherent level of regulation and supervision in the European banking sector. Its range of duties includes analysing the effects of particular regulatory tools and improving cross-border supervisory cooperation and, in particular, harmonising EU supervisory law. The EBA has been given a legal mandate to draft Implementing and Regulatory Technical standards (ITS and RTS) for particular areas. These standards become directly applicable law in the form of Implementing Acts or Delegated Acts following the approval by the European Commission. Nonetheless, the competence and responsibility for legal supervision of financial institutions and markets remains at the national level.

Other EBA duties include, for example, the implementation of bank stress tests, the binding mediation of disagreements between national supervisory authorities in cross-border cases, the ability to instigate procedures in cases of non-compliance with Community law, and support of national supervisory authorities in times of crisis. The EBA is also authorised to produce what is known as guidelines and recommendations for the standardisation of supervisory practice, and is responsible for answering any other (European) questions of interpretation.

The Bundesbank works together with BaFin (the Federal Financial Supervisory Authority) in the EBA's various working groups and thus participates in the development of the EBA's standards and guidelines.

Further information and the EBA's publications can be found on the EBA's website.