The state-owned NLB and NKBM as well as the Italian-owned Unicredit banka Slovenija will be included in the Single Supervisory Mechanism that is being set up by the eurozone to shore up regulation in response to the financial crisis.

The ECB will join forces with national regulatory bodies - in Slovenia's case the central bank Banka Slovenije - to conduct supervision of systemic banks in eurozone countries and participating EU member states.

In essence this means that Banka Slovenije will provide data and support to the ECB, which will grant banking licenses, approvals for acquisitions of shares in banks and clearance for management board members. The ECB will also manage audits and determine fines.

The new mechanism will include 120 banks initially, but the list will be updated regularly to include key credit institutions in the member states.

In addition to directly overseeing the three banks in Slovenia, the ECB will also supervise banking groups Intesa Sanpaolo, Societe Generale, Sparkasse and Sberbank Europe, which operate subsidiaries in Slovenia.