The Chairperson shall be a full-time independent professional responsible for preparing the work of the Board of Supervisors and Management Board: setting agendas (to be adopted by the respective boards), convening and chairing meetings, tabling items for decision and, where appropriate, inviting the Management Board to consider a coordination group under Article 45b.2. The Chairperson shall be selected on the basis of merit, skills, knowledge of financial market participants and markets, and relevant experience in financial supervision and regulation through an open selection procedure respecting gender balance and published in the Official Journal of the European Union. The Board of Supervisors, with the Commission's assistance, shall draw up a shortlist; the Council shall adopt the appointment based on that shortlist after confirmation by the European Parliament.

The Chairperson's term is five years and may be extended once. In the nine months before the term ends the Board of Supervisors shall evaluate the results of the first term and the Authority's future duties; the Vice‑Chairperson shall perform the Chairperson's tasks during that evaluation. The Board elects a Vice‑Chairperson from among its members (not from the Management Board) to act in the Chairperson's absence. Removal is permitted only on serious grounds: where the Chairperson no longer fulfils Article 49 conditions or is found guilty of serious misconduct the Council may remove them on a Commission proposal approved by the European Parliament, and removal may occur only by the European Parliament following a Council decision adopted after consulting the Board of Supervisors.