The European Central Bank (ECB) estimates that it will cost it €260 million in 2015 to supervise European banks.

“While the exact figure can only be confirmed in 2015, a preliminary analysis has shown that for 2015 the annual fee for a directly supervised bank may range from €150,000 to €15 million, with most paying between €0.7 million and €2 million.

“Similarly, some 75 per cent of the smaller, indirectly supervised banks may pay between €2,000 and €7,000 per year, while the bigger banks in this category may be levied with an amount of about €200,000,” the ECB said.

The ECB will take over as supervisor of euro area banks in November as part of the Single Supervisory Mechanism (SSM).

The SSM will directly supervise up to 130 institutions and work with national competent authorities to oversee smaller banks.

Under the EU regulation governing the SSM, the ECB is required to levy an annual supervisory fee on the directly and indirectly supervised banks in order to recover its expenditures.

The ECB has now published a draft ECB regulation on supervisory fees for public consultation until July 11.

The consultation documents, comprising the draft ECB regulation on supervisory fees, an explanatory report, and a Q&A note, are published in the ‘Banking Supervision’ section of the ECB’s website.