Banche Centrali: funzioni monetarie e funzioni di vigilanza bancaria / Central banks: monetary and supervisory functions

The paper attempts to explain the reasons why in recent years, in many industrialized countries, national central banks have lost their supervisory and regulatory powers. This process can be attributed to three factors in particular. The first of these is connected to the reduced importance for commercial banks of central bank funding following the development of wide and deep monetary markets. In this situation, central banks have little need to know the credit worthiness of their systems’ banks. The second factor stems from the need to maintain central banks’ anti-inflation credibility at appropriately high levels. Finally, the third factor is linked to the financial and banking policies adopted by many countries during the era of globalisation. The paper concludes that leaving supervisory functions with central banks, i.e. with institutions closely connected to commercial banks, may hold back the development of new markets and new players.