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EU Parliament, IMF defend ECB's bond-buying scheme

Agence France-PresseJune 12, 2013 10:31

Germany's highest court wrapped up its examination of the legality of the European Central Bank's key anti-crisis measure on Wednesday, with both the European Parliament and the International Monetary Fund riding to the ECB's defence. "Unusual circumstances require unusual measures," IMF chief Christine Lagarde told the daily Sueddeutsche Zeitung in an interview, as the Constitutional Court held a second and final day of hearings in the highly complex case.

Tokyo stocks open 1.73% lower

Agence France-PresseJune 11, 2013 22:43

Tokyo stocks opened 1.73 percent lower Wednesday after US shares suffered broad declines over concerns about the limits of global central bank policy. The benchmark Nikkei 225 index slipped 229.96 points to 13,087.66 at the start. The Bank of Japan (BoJ) opted against additional stimulus measures on Tuesday, which triggered a sharp rise in the yen against other major currencies in New York.

ECB and Bundesbank square off over bond-buying plan

Thomson ReutersJune 10, 2013 20:31

By Annika Breidthardt KARLSRUHE, Germany (Reuters) - The European Central Bank vigorously defended its bond-buying program in a German courtroom on Tuesday, arguing that the scheme many credit with saving the euro from collapse was within its mandate and had not spawned unlimited risks.

Discussion about interest rates at ECB is 'rich': Praet

Thomson ReutersJune 11, 2013 15:31

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - The discussion at the European Central Bank about interest rates is "very rich", Executive Board member Peter Praet said on Tuesday, indicating there is room for further cuts. The ECB cut its main refinancing rate to 0.5 percent and kept its deposit rate a zero at its May policy meeting. ECB President Mario Draghi said then the 17-country bloc's central bank was technically ready to take the deposit rate to negative territory, which could mean banks will have to pay to park their money at the ECB overnight.

ECB's bond-buying scheme goes before top German court

Agence France-PresseJune 11, 2013 14:31

The European Central Bank on Tuesday defended its controversial bond purchase scheme, credited with pulling back the eurozone from the brink of collapse last year, in front of the Germany's highest tribunal, the Constitutional Court. Critics of the ECB's "Outright Monetary Transactions" (OMT) have asked the court to examine whether the scheme is in line with Germany's Basic Law or whether it breaches the central bank's mandate.

Germany court hears challenge to ECB's bond purchase program credited with calming crisis

The Canadian PressJune 11, 2013 05:30

KARLSRUHE, Germany - A key European Central Bank program that has been credited with calming the 3 1/2 year-old euro debt crisis faced a legal challenge Tuesday in Germany's highest court. The Federal constitutional Court in Karlsruhe is considering arguments against the ECB's offer to buy government bonds and lower borrowing costs for indebted countries. Opponents of the bond-buying program say the program oversteps the ECB's mandate, which forbids it from financing governments.

German court questions ECB weapon against debt crisis

Agence France-PresseJune 11, 2013 05:42

Germany's highest tribunal, the Constitutional Court, began the first of two days of hearings on Tuesday on whether the European Central Bank's programme to buy up sovereign debt of struggling eurozone countries is compatible with Germany's Basic Law. German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble, entering the court, said he was confident that the ECB was acting within its mandate. "We have no doubt the ECB is acting within its mandate," Schaeuble told reporters. The government would await the court proceedings but was confident about the outcome, he added.

Top German court examines ECB's anti-crisis weapon

Agence France-PresseJune 11, 2013 01:34

Germany's highest tribunal, the Constitutional Court, begins two days of hearings Tuesday to decide whether the European Central Bank's controversial OMT bond purchase programme is compatible with Germany's Basic Law. Bundesbank president Jens Weidmann -- one of the most vocal critics of the Outright Monetary Transactions -- is scheduled to take the stand alongside ECB executive board member Joerg Asmussen. But while experts suggest the hearings could become a sort of showdown between the two central banks, Weidmann himself denied that would be the case.

ECB official concerned if German court overturns OMT

Agence France-PresseJune 10, 2013 04:34

A rejection by Germany's highest court of the European Central Bank's controversial OMT bond purchase programme would have serious consequences for the eurozone, a top ECB official warned on Monday. "I have great respect for the court and will not dole out advice to an independent body," ECB executive board member Joerg Asmussen told the mass-circulation daily Bild in an interview. "But generally speaking, no institution operates in a vacuum. If the bond purchase programme has to be scrapped, that would have substantial consequences," Asmussen said.

Top German court takes a look at ECB's 'big bazooka'

Agence France-PresseJune 9, 2013 00:40

"It's really very hard not to state that OMT has been probably the most successful monetary policy measure undertaken in recent time," European Central Bank chief Mario Draghi said last week of what has proven to the most powerful weapon in the ECB's crisis-fighting armoury. But Germany's highest tribunal, the Constitutional Court, will examine this week whether the ECB's "big bazooka", or Outright Monetary Transaction (OMT), is compatible with the country's Basic Law.