Navigating the Legal Landscape of AI-Enhanced Banking Supervision: Protecting EU Fundamental Rights and Ensuring Good Administration

Abstract

Banking supervisors worldwide recognise the pressing need to harness frontier technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), particularly machine learning (ML), to enhance their efficiency and analytical capabilities. The European Central Bank (ECB) has similarly acknowledged the opportunities offered by supervisory technology (SupTech) and established a dedicated Suptech Hub. However, the adoption of automated technologies in banking supervision raises complex questions of legality, transparency, and accountability, particularly for the ECB, as a public institution within the EU’s democratic order founded on the rule of law.

This study investigates how the use of AI systems to augment supervisory decision-making may impact EU fundamental rights, particularly the right to good administration. To this end, we first define the notion of good administration in the context of banking supervision, and explore what it entails for the ECB from legal and ethical perspectives. We then analyse the potential implications of AI-enhanced banking supervision for good administration and examine how the latter may inform the integration of AI/ML into supervisory processes and procedures.

Drawing inspiration from the proposed EU AI Act, we develop a normative framework for regulating AI systems based on specific risks to good administration associated with different applications. Our framework prioritises transparency, auditability and accountability requirements to ensure that future AI-driven banking supervision is aligned with the principles of good administration. Overall, this study contributes to the growing literature on the legal implications of AI and ML adoption by financial supervisors, underscoring the importance of a balanced approach that upholds fundamental rights while harnessing the benefits of technological progress.

Keywords: artificial intelligence, machine learning, banking supervision, ECB, EU administrative law, good administration, fundamental rights, judicial review

JEL Classification: G18, G28, G38, K22, K42, O33, O38