Joint Examination Team
A Joint Examination Team is the group that assists the Lead Overseer when it conducts oversight activities, such as general investigations or on-site inspections, on a designated critical ICT third-party provider. One is established for each critical provider under DORA Article 40.
Detailed explanation
The Joint Examination Team pools staff from the European Supervisory Authorities and the competent authorities that supervise the financial entities relying on the critical ICT third-party provider, with a national competent authority from the provider's home Member State and the authority referred to in Article 32(4)(e) able to join on a voluntary basis. Members must have expertise in ICT matters and operational risk, and the team works under a designated Lead Overseer staff member, the Lead Overseer coordinator, rather than reporting separately to each participating authority. This shared structure is what lets a single investigation (Article 38) or inspection (Article 39) draw on supervisory knowledge from across the Union instead of duplicating the work authority by authority. Within three months of completing an investigation or inspection, the Lead Overseer, after consulting the Oversight Forum, adopts recommendations addressed to the critical ICT third-party provider, drawing directly on the Joint Examination Team's findings. A provider that does not address those recommendations can ultimately see the entities relying on it instructed to suspend or terminate the arrangement, so the team's findings carry real weight despite its own role being investigative rather than punitive.
In context
This term relates to the ICT Third-Party Risk pillar and is grounded in DORA Article 31.