Opening address by Luis de Guindos, Vice-President of the ECB, at the SRM 10th Anniversary Conference

Brussels, 15 October 2025

Introduction

A decade ago, the SRM was established as a direct response to the global financial crisis and the European sovereign debt crisis. As the second institutional pillar of the banking union, it has the ambitious remit of improving how bank failures are managed while safeguarding the public interest and limiting recourse to taxpayer money. Together with the Single Supervisory Mechanism, it has played a pivotal role in protecting financial stability in the EU.

Ten years on, we once again find ourselves in a challenging environment, marked by significant uncertainty and geopolitical risk. The banking union remains incomplete, at a time when the EU needs to uphold its fundamental values and defend its interests. We cannot wait until the next crisis to move towards strengthening the EU project.