The European Central Bank (ECB) recently published amendments to its guidelines on the implementation of monetary policy in the Eurosystem. The amended guidelines make the following changes:
- The first step in gradually phasing out the pandemic collateral easing measures introduced in April 2020 as announced on 24 March 2022.
- Clarification of the eligibility criteria for sustainability-linked bonds and asset-backed securities (ABSs), as decided by the Governing Council on 4 February and 17 June 2021, respectively.
- Provisions that apply in the event of the activation of the Enhanced Contingency Solution (ECONS) under the TARGET2 system.
Further amendments include:
- Alignment of the Eurosystem’s collateral framework with the requirements set out in Directive (EU) 2019/2162 of the European Parliament and of the Council (Covered Bond Directive), as well as with the amendments introduced by Regulation (EU) 2019/2160 of the European Parliament and of the Council; and
- Phasing out the option to accept certain marketable assets issued by non-euro area G10 central governments in their national currency as collateral, as this option was never used.
Guidelines ECB/2022/17, ECB/2022/18 and ECB/2022/19 are available on the ECB’s website and will be published in 23 official EU languages in the Official Journal of the European Union.
