Article 63 Composition and appointment of the Executive Board

1. the Chair of the Authority;

2. five full-time members, including the Vice-Chair.

The Executive Director shall participate in meetings of the Executive Board without the right to vote.

Where the decisions referred to in Article 64(2) in relation to a selected obliged entitymeans a credit institution, a financial institution, or a group of credit institutions or financial institutions at the highest level of consolidation in the Union in accordance with applicable accounting standards, which is under direct supervision by the Authority pursuant to Article 13; are deliberated upon, the member of the General Board in supervisory composition from the Member State where the concerned selected obliged entitymeans a credit institution, a financial institution, or a group of credit institutions or financial institutions at the highest level of consolidation in the Union in accordance with applicable accounting standards, which is under direct supervision by the Authority pursuant to Article 13; is established may participate in the deliberations during the relevant meetings of the Executive Board.

That member of the General Board shall not be present during the vote following such deliberations.

The Executive Board members referred to in paragraph 1, point (b), shall be selected on the basis of merit, skills, knowledge, integrity, recognised standing and experience in the area of AML/CFT, and other relevant qualifications, following an open selection procedure which shall be published in the Official Journal of the European Union.

The Commission shall prepare a shortlist of candidates for the position of the Executive Board members referred to in paragraph 1, point (b). The European Parliament may conduct hearings of the candidates on that shortlist.

The General Board shall submit a proposal for the appointment of the Executive Board members referred to in paragraph 1, point (b), to the European Parliament, based on the shortlist prepared by the Commission. Following the European Parliament’s approval of that proposal, the Council shall adopt an implementing decision to appoint those Executive Board members. The Council shall act by qualified majority.

Throughout the appointment process, the principles of gender and geographical balance shall be taken into account to the extent possible.

The term of office of the Executive Board members referred to in paragraph 1, point (b), shall be four years. In the course of the 12 months preceding the end of their four-year term of office, the General Board in both compositions or a smaller committee selected among General Board members, including a Commission representative, shall carry out an assessment of those Executive Board members. The assessment shall take into account an evaluation of each Executive Board member’s performance and the Authority’s future tasks and challenges. Based on the assessment, the General Board in both compositions may propose to the European Parliament to extend their term of office. Such extension may be granted only once. Following the European Parliament’s approval of the General Board’s proposal, the Council shall adopt an implementing decision to extend the term of office of the Executive Board member or members concerned. The Council shall act by qualified majority.

The Executive Board members referred to in paragraph 1, point (b), shall act independently and objectively in the interest of the Union as a whole and shall neither seek nor take instructions from Union institutions, bodies, offices or agencies, or from any government or any other public or private body. The Union institutions, bodies, offices and agencies, the governments of Member States and all other public or private bodies shall respect that independence.

If an Executive Board member referred to in paragraph 1, point (b), no longer fulfils the conditions required for the performance of that member’s duties or has been guilty of serious misconduct, the Council may, acting on its own initiative or following a proposal by the European Parliament or the General Board in either composition, adopt an implementing decision to remove that member of the Executive Board from office. The Council shall act by qualified majority.

1. a selected obliged entitymeans a credit institution, a financial institution, or a group of credit institutions or financial institutions at the highest level of consolidation in the Union in accordance with applicable accounting standards, which is under direct supervision by the Authority pursuant to Article 13;;

2. any other entity, where doing so would or could lead to a conflict with the legitimate interests of the Authority.