Public Law Liability of the Financial Market Supervisor

Abstract

This article deals with the liability of the supervisory authority of the financial market. It could be questioned whether the supervisory authority, as the public authority, is liable for the supervisory performance. If the answer is yes, then the question is what kind of liability could be found and if any special conditions (prerequisites) are needed. In general, there could be two lines of public liability found. One is systemic liability for the safe financial market—e.g., financial market stability. The other perspective is individual liability for damages caused by unlawful administrative procedure or maladministration, where unlimited strict liability is granted. This kind of liability might be widely questioned, especially when the central bank is the supervisory authority, like in the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, and other EU member states. This article aims to evaluate the liability of the supervisory authority in the Czech Republic and Hungary concerning the European level of such liability.