The newly appointed Ombudsman for Europe, Emily O’Reilly, has criticised the composition of the European Banking Authority’s 30-member main advisory board, identifying several instances of maladministration in the selection of representatives of the board.

In a decision published yesterday, Ms O'Reilly upheld a complaint by European services trade union, UNI Europa, that the Banking Stakeholders Group was skewed towards "old" EU member states.

She criticised the authority for a lack of “geographical balance” across the board’s various categories. She found the fact the nine out of the 10 members of the “industry” category came from “old” member states showed maladministration by the authority for not ensuring an appropriate geographical balance.