The European Central Bank is changing how it supervises banks, with the scope and intensity of reviews increasingly tied to institution-specific risks and loan portfolios. The new approach of the Single Supervisory Mechanism (SSM) directly affects Greece’s four systemically important banks under ECB supervision: Alpha Bank, Eurobank, National Bank of Greece and Piraeus.
On-site missions will use narrower mandates, smaller teams and shorter timelines, including to close earlier supervisory actions. Supervisors are expected to make greater use of information already available, reducing repeated requests to banks. The ECB also plans closer coordination between inspection teams and Joint Supervisory Teams so findings can feed more quickly into ongoing oversight.
The SSM is deploying AI tools to search and compare supervisory findings and measures across European banks. Medusa supports search, comparison, consistency checks, reporting and statistical analysis. Athena processes large collections of supervisory documents, including searching, summarizing, classifying and translating material, and can answer inspectors’ queries with references. Heimdall supports suitability assessments of executives, while Delphi helps identify emerging risks.
The ECB says banks should receive a clearer inspection scope in advance and timely notice of potentially significant findings, with an opportunity to provide additional evidence or clarification. The regulator says this does not predetermine outcomes; it is intended to correct factual errors and clarify disagreements.
ECB figures show on-site inspection reports in 2026 were about 20% shorter on average than in 2025. The average time from the start of an inspection to its final report fell from 33 weeks to 29. The bank says shorter reports and timelines do not mean less rigorous reviews; the aim remains to identify material weaknesses and ensure they are addressed.