BaFin is also the national resolution authority as from 1 January 2018. The new Directorate has taken over the resolution functions of the Federal Agency for Financial Market Stabilisation (FMSA). The Directorate is headed by Dr Thorsten Pötzsch.

By transferring the resolution function to BaFin, the new legislation has given it responsibility for an additional, significant area of activity. BaFin President Felix Hufeld welcomed the assumption of the new function in his speech at BaFin's New Year press reception.¹ While remaining independent, the resolution and supervisory activities benefitted from operating alongside each other under one roof, he said, adding that this was simply a more efficient way of working. "If a bank gets into difficulties, it will now be easier for us to restructure it or – if necessary and the preconditions are met – to resolve it and so avert damage from the general public ", he said in his summary. As the national resolution authority, BaFin now also forms part of the Single Resolution Mechanism (SRM).

The Authorisation Requirement and Enforcement relating to Unauthorised Business department and the units of the department for the prevention of money laundering that are not engaged in operational supervision and are therefore not in conflict with the resolution function have also been allocated to the Resolution Directorate.²

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