In addition to active cooperation with international organisations, the fostering of bilateral relations with other supervisory authorities is particularly important for the Financial Market Authority.
As a result of the activities of Austrian credit institutions and insurance undertakings in Central and Eastern Europe, there is a particular focus on bilateral contacts to sister supervisory authorities in this region.
The negotiation and conclusion of memoranda of understanding (MoUs) and Supervisory Colleges, in which all relevant supervisory authorities relevant for the supervision of cross-border groups cooperate, are both important elements of supervisory authority cooperation.
Bilateral and multilateral cooperation agreements (“Memoranda of Understanding – MoUs”) have been concluded between the Financial Market Authority and foreign supervisory authorities in the areas of banking supervision, insurance supervision and securities supervision. These agreements simplify and speed up the Financial Market Authority’s practical supervisory activities for cross-border issues. They also act as a confidence-building measure, particularly towards non-EEA Member States, and are an important instrument in the Financial Market Authority’s efforts to constantly strengthen their operative cooperation with its sister authorities, in particular in the Central and Eastern Europe (CEE). These agreements address the respective tasks, obligations regarding making contact with, as well as information about, the respective other supervisory authority in a practically-oriented way, and form the basis for regular meetings between the respective authorities.
Multilateral Memoranda of Understanding – MMoUs) are also concluded with multilateral institutions, which are intended to establish international cooperation in supervisory issues. MMoUs that permit the exchange of information of supervisory relevance on a multilaterally agreed basis are particularly significant and contribute to the standardisation and simplification of the information exchange between the participating authorities.
In addition to supervision on an individual entity level, the additional supervision of groups on credit institutions and insurance undertakings also constitutes an important part of supervisory activities. Colleges of supervisors are above all an important measure with regard to the efficient supervision of groups of companies that are active on a cross-border basis, to ensure that a solid overview is formed about the group of companies together with the local supervisory authorities.
Further information can be found about the supervision of groups in the respective areas of supervision.