This paper analyses how the role of the central bank can influence the unification of the
overall financial supervision architecture. We claim that the policymaker's choices can be
viewed as a sequential process in which the institutional status quo matters. The degree of
unification in supervision is decided based on the position of the central bank. If the central
bank involvement in supervision and its reputation are high, the unification level is likely to
be low, and vice versa. The central bank fragmentation effect can be explained through the …