The Committee of European Banking Supervisors (CEBS) is publishing today a Protocol for a mediation mechanism, after having submitted it for public consultation on 19 March 2007. The objective is to facilitate and speed up the supervisory procedures set out in the Capital Requirements Directive and to support the application of the pre-existing cooperation tools among supervisors such as the CEBS Guidelines on validation and on home/host cooperation. CEBS reiterates its commitment to using all tools at its disposal, including mediation, to achieve further convergence and reduce the supervisory burden of cross-border banking groups.