Mr. Aidan Carrigan:

There was considerable debate about the level at which the fund should be pitched. With any ex antefund there is no point in having funds set aside for a systemic crisis because the figure would be too big. Therefore, one has to pitch at a certain level to deal with normal banking arrangements. The figure of €55 billion was chosen. The fund will be called on only after a bail-in has taken place. Under the resolution mechanism, the banks must bail in first through their equity holders and bondholders and work their way down to a certain level. Only then can the fund be called in. The view taken was that while €55 billion might not have been enough to deal with the systemic banking crisis of recent years, in most countries it would have been enough to have dealt with any other crisis.