The evolution of the concept of supervision over bank activities against the background of experiences of selected European countries

The subject of considerations is the legal issue of the optimal model of supervision over the functioning of credit institutions. Normative regulation models in selected European countries have been presented with particular reference to the solutions applied in German legislation. Two basic banking supervision systems were identified: institutional type and functional type. Institutional type supervision is exercised by one supervisory institution which deals with irregularities in the functioning of all entities performing bank activities. It has been adopted in Switzerland and in Poland. In this system, the supervision is entrusted to one entity. Functional supervision is exercised, by several supervisory institutions acting jointly, each has their unique statutory competences. The experience of the recent financial crisis indicates a greater effectiveness of the first type of supervision and the need to deepen further the cooperation between national supervision in cross-border activities.