The largest bank health check ever undertaken in terms of the number of banks, their overall size, and their geographical reach is keeping thousands of bankers, supervisors, and auditors in overtime this summer in preparation for the launching of the European Central Bank as the eurozone’s lead bank supervisor at the beginning of November. The legality of this most ambitious European integration project since the introduction of the euro at the beginning of 1999 is still being questioned.
Once again, the legal challenges are coming from Germany. The outcome of that legal challenge remains open. As the saying goes, “Before the courts and high seas, we are in God’s hands.” Ever since European leaders opened the door to European banking union at their June 2012 EU summit in Brussels, the legal battles have been raging, particularly from a German perspective.
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