1. The ECB shall maintain autonomous decision-making procedures for its supervisory and monetary policy functions.
2. All work units of the ECB shall be placed under the managing direction of the Executive Board. The competence of the Executive Board in respect of the ECB's internal structure and the staff of the ECB shall encompass the supervisory tasks. The Executive Board shall consult the Chair and the Vice Chair of the Supervisory Board on such internal structure.
3. ECB staff involved in carrying out supervisory tasks shall be organisationally separated from the staff involved in carrying out other tasks conferred on the ECB. Staff involved in carrying out supervisory tasks shall report to the Executive Board in respect of organisational, human resources and administrative issues, but shall be subject to functional reporting to the Chair and the Vice Chair of the Supervisory Board, subject to the exception in paragraph 4.
4. The ECB may establish shared services providing support to both the monetary policy and the supervisory function in order to ensure that these support functions are not duplicated, thus helping to guarantee the efficient and effective delivery of services. Such services shall not be subject to Article 6 as regards any information exchanges by them with the relevant policy functions.