OMT

In Europe 20th January 2015

QE and OMT are not the same thing

PARIS | By Francesco Saraceno | I think it is important to clarify once more that QE and the OMT (welcome to the wonderful world of EU acronyms) are not the same thing. If Mario Draghi manages to rally the Governing Council behind him, QE will consist of a vast program of sovereign bond purchases, in order to try to lift the European economy out of deflation. A European version in short, of what was done three years ago by the Fed and other major central banks in the world.

Markets 14th January 2015

EU Court’s green light for QE

MADRID | By J.P. Marín Arrese | In the OMT case brought before the EU Court of Justice by the German Constitutional watchdog, the Advocate General has delivered a positive opinion. As the Court usually follows such opinions, the last hurdle for implementing the planned QE has been lifted. Yet, the Advocate General sets a number of requirements that will curtail the ECB’s room of manoeuvre.

In Europe 13th October 2014

EU: Challenged OMT is back in town

MADRID | The Corner | The European Central Bank’s Outright Monetary Transaction (OMT) will be back on the front pages on Tuesday. The European Court of Justice (the EU’s highest tribunal) will have to respond to the challenge of German judges, who said the OMT can be seen as monetary financing of governments, banned in EU treaties. “Every time the monetary union takes a step forward, German individuals and/or civil or political groups file a case with the Constitutional Court in Karlsruhe,” our senior analyst Luis Martí commented.

In Europe 19th March 2014

Germany feels sure about European rescue fund- not ECB’s OMT

MADRID | By Julia Pastor| German judges are removing uncertainties little by little. The country’s Constitutional Court confirmed on Tuesday that the European Mechanism of Stability is legal and does not damage the Bundestag’s budget. Furthermore, they also approved euro zone’s fiscal pact. The court had brought an appeal against constitutionality of both treaties in June of 2012. The third appeal regarding ECB’s bond purchase program is still pending of a sentence, however, and apparently it would be more difficult to solve: Karlsruhe’s court has required European Court of Justice to decide against the program following the arguments -more economic than legal- that Bundesbank has handed to them.

Markets 26th November 2012

Draghi cares little about Portugal, so would he really help Spain?

Spanish president Mariano Rajoy’s reluctance is more than understandable because there is no assurances about the reach of the OMT operations, nor their effects. Moreover, Brussels has recanted more than once, already.

Markets 14th September 2012

The City wants a braver Mario Draghi

LONDON | Something had to be done to support the euro. But some in the City still see the European Central Bank excessively scared of inflation. Past cash injections, though, have depreciated the common currency very little.