Judgment_paragraph 67 · ABLV Bank AS and Others v European Central Bank (C-551/19 P, C-552/19 P)

67Contrary to the appellants’ contention, the ECB’s assessment of the condition referred to in point (a) of the first subparagraph of Article 18(1) of Regulation No 806/2014 is not a binding act and, in particular, does not put the SRB in a position where its powers in respect of that assessment are circumscribed. Indeed, either the ECB finds, in its assessment, that the entity is failing or is likely to fail, which results in the initiation of the procedure provided for in Article 18 of that regulation, or it considers that not to be the case, and the procedure is not, therefore, initiated. There is nothing in the wording of that provision to indicate that the SRB would have no power in either situation to assess whether the entity in question is failing or is likely to fail.