The European Central Bank will “supervise” 6,000 banks in the euro area, including savings banks and regional German public banks, but the degree of direct supervision may vary depending on the banks and the involvement of other regulators.’

The German newspaper Handelsblatt reported in its Friday edition that sources from the European Commission (EC), the European Union’s executive, wants the ECB to gain supervision of euro zone banks and not only those included in the European Stability Mechanism (ESM), the EC confirmed today.’