The Single Resolution Board (SRB) is a key element of the newly created Banking Union and its ‘Single Resolution Mechanism’. This mechanism complements the Single Supervisory Mechanism which, as from November 2014, sees the European Central Bank directly supervise banks in the euro area and in other countries which decide to join the Banking Union. In the rare case when a bank fails or is at risk of failing, the Single Resolution Mechanism will come into play.

The Single Resolution Board is the European resolution authority for the Banking Union. It works in close cooperation with the national resolution authorities of participating Member States. Its mission is to ensure an orderly resolution of failing banks with minimal costs for taxpayers and to the real economy.

The Board will prepare resolution plans and will carry out the resolution of banks in trouble, whenever one of them fails or is likely to fail. The Board will also be in charge of the Single Resolution Fund, a pool of money financed by the banking sector which will be set up to ensure that medium-term funding support is available while a credit institution is being restructured.

Established by Regulation (EU) No 806/2014 on the Single Resolution Mechanism, the Board shall be operational as an independent EU Agency as of 1st January 2015. It will start work on developing resolution plans for credit institutions from January 2015 and will be fully operational, with a complete set of resolution powers, from January 2016.