11.2.3 How is this relevant characteristic elaborated in the decisions?

The current subsection zooms in on the 23 bank State aid cases in which Commission has mentioned the fact that the senior management of the bank had been replaced. How is “senior management” defined in those decisions? “Senior management” is a vague term that may be elaborated in various ways. As set out in section 6.7.3, I am of the opinion that divergent elaborations of “senior management” would be contrary to the principle of equal treatment.

It should be remarked that – although this PhD-study uses the term ‘senior management’ as an overall term – this term is not used in the Crisis Communications. The analysis of the decisional practice shows that there have been changes in the ‘Board of Directors’, ‘Supervisory Board’, ‘Management Board’, ‘senior management’ or ‘top management’. Sometimes, only specific board members are replaced (for instance in the case of SNS REAAL, where the CEO and CFO were replaced). Thus, the current relevant characteristic – i.e. the fact that the senior management has been replaced – is not consistently elaborated.

It should be pointed out that CRD IV and the BRRD contain some definitions. This will be discussed in more detail in section 11.2.4.