The suggestion of a euro area safe asset predates the launch of the currency, and a variety of proposals have been put forward since then for its creation which have been considered and discussed by policy makers, regulators, academics, and market participants. There is a current surge of interest in the design and feasibility of a euro safe asset and ICMA remains actively engaged in the ongoing discussions.
The search for a euro safe asset, article in the ICMA Quarterly Report Q2 2019
Resources:
Euro safe assets – Regulatory resources
- How could a common safe asset contribute to financial stability and financial integration in the banking union? (2020), ECB
- The fundamentals of safe assets (2020), ECB Working Paper Series
- The Safety Premium of Safe Assets (2019), Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, Working Paper 2019-28
- Regulating the doom loop, (2019), ECB Working Paper Series, No. 2313
- McCauley, R, N, (2019), Safe assets: made not just born, BIS Working Papers, No 769, February 2019
- Sovereign bond-backed securities: a feasibility study, January 2018, Volume I: main findings, ESRB High-Level Task Force on Safe Assets
- Sovereign bond-backed securities: a feasibility study, January 2018, Volume II: main findings, ESRB High-Level Task Force on Safe Assets
- European Commission, Sovereign Bond-back Securities Product Regulation: Roadmap & Feedback (website), 2018
- Van Riet, A, (2017), Addressing the safety trilemma: a safe sovereign asset for the eurozone, ESRB, Working Paper Series, No 35, February 2017
- Brunnermeier, M, et al., (2016), ESBies: Safety in the tranches, ESRB, Working Paper Series, No 21, September 2016
- European Commission, Proposal for a REGULATION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL on sovereign bond-backed securities, Brussels, 24.5.2018 COM (2018) 339 final, 2018/0171 (COD)
- European Parliament, Eurobonds: the Blue Bond concept and its implications, Directorate General For Internal Policies, Policy Department A: Economic and Scientific Policies, Economic and Monetary Affairs, IP/A/ECON/FWC/2009-040/C1, March 2011
Academic and market papers
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- ECB Debt Certificates: the European counterpart to US T-bills (2020), University of Oxford Department of Economics Discussion Paper Series
- Leandro, A, and Zettelmeyer, J, (2018), The Search for a Euro Area Safe Asset, Peterson Institute for International Economics, 18-3, March 2018, Revised February 2019
- Fritz, B, et al., (2018), New Bonds To Make the Eurozone Safer, Allianz Research, Munich, December 2018 (Presentation)
- Bini Smaghi, L, and Marcussen, M, (2018), Delivering a safe asset for the euro area: A proposal for a Purple bond transition
- Kraemer, M, (2017), How S&P Global Ratings Would Assess European "Safe" Bonds (ESBies), RatingsDirect, S&P Global Ratings, Frankfurt, April 25 2017
- Brunnermeier, M, et al., (2016), ESBies: Safety in the tranches, Paper prepared for the 64th Panel Meeting of Economic Policy, 14-15 October 2016
- Brunnermeier, M, et al., (2016), The Sovereign-Bank Diabolic Loop and ESBies, Princeton University
- Ubide, A, (2015), Stability Bonds for the Euro Area, Peterson Institute for International Economics, Number PB15-19, October 2015
- Bishop, G, (2013), Bolstering the Still-Fragile Euro: A Plan for a Temporary Eurobill Fund
- Phillippon, T, and Hellwig, C, (2011), Eurobills, Not Eurobonds, VOX, CEPR Policy Portal, 2 December 2011
- Delpla, J, and von Weizsäcker, J, (2010), The Blue Bond Proposal, Breugel Policy Brief, Issue 2010/3 (May)
- Juncker, JC, and Tremonti, G, (2010), Issuing E-bonds: a way to overcome the current crisis, Doc InterLycees, Version A : see web Gouv lu – 6 dec 2010
- Bonnevay, M, (2010), The argument for a Eurobond: A coordinated strategy for emerging from the crisis, Institut Montaigne, Policy Paper, February 2010
- Issin, O, (2009), Why a Common Eurozone Bond Isn’t Such a Good Idea, White Paper No. III, July 2009, Center for Financial Studies
- De Grauwe, P, and Moesen W, (2009), Gains for all: a proposal for a common euro bond, University of Leuven, Article in Intereconomics, May 2009
Contact:
Andy Hill
Managing Director, Co-Head of Market Practice & Regulatory Policy; secretary to the Secondary Market Practices Committee and also responsible for overseeing repo policy; Member of the ICMA Executive Committee
Direct line: +44 20 7213 0335
