Luis de Guindos, Vice-President of the European Central Bank, delivered an opening address at the 10th anniversary conference of the Single Resolution Mechanism in Brussels on October 15, 2025. He highlighted the SRM's role in enhancing banking resilience amid past crises and urged further steps to complete the banking union. De Guindos emphasized the need for European unity to address ongoing challenges.
The Single Resolution Mechanism (SRM) was established a decade ago as a response to the global financial crisis and the European sovereign debt crisis. As the second pillar of the banking union alongside the Single Supervisory Mechanism, it aims to manage bank failures while protecting the public interest and minimizing taxpayer involvement.
De Guindos noted that the banking sector has become "much more resilient" over the past ten years, weathering shocks like the COVID-19 pandemic and Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Despite economic standstill during the pandemic and subsequent inflation surges requiring monetary policy tightening, banks restored profitability and adapted from low-interest rates.
Key achievements include the SRM's oversight of loss-absorbing liabilities buildup and the creation of an €80 billion Single Resolution Fund for orderly bank resolutions. A notable example is the 2017 resolution of Banco Popular in Spain, the first bail-in case, executed on solid legal grounds despite judicial disputes. De Guindos, who served as Spain's economy minister at the time, praised the SRM's seamless handling, which ensured continuity of critical bank functions without severe economic disruption.
Looking ahead, de Guindos stressed the incompleteness of the banking union amid geopolitical uncertainties. He called for legislators to finalize the European Stability Mechanism backstop for the Single Resolution Fund, establish a European liquidity framework in resolution, and implement a European deposit insurance scheme (EDIS) to address the bank-sovereign nexus. While acknowledging a recent agreement on crisis management reforms, he insisted EDIS remains essential.
Broader integration efforts should draw from Mario Draghi’s competitiveness report and Enrico Letta’s Single Market proposals. De Guindos advocated removing national barriers, harmonizing tax, insolvency, and corporate laws, and enhancing EU-level capital market supervision to foster cross-border activity and strengthen the euro's international role.
In conclusion, de Guindos affirmed the SRM's success in shielding Europe from turmoil and expressed optimism for its next decade, urging completion of the banking union and a savings and investments union for greater resilience and growth.