The ECB's Private Deals Are Distorting European Markets
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ECB President Mario Draghi famously pledged to do “whatever it takes” to restore eurozone growth. His attempts to fulfill that promise have led to NIRP and other bizarre policies like the central bank’s massive asset purchases.
Whether the ECB’s interventions are helping the eurozone economy is not yet clear. But they are certainly having consequences. One is the appearance, if not the reality, of central bank interference and favoritism.
The ECB is making private transactions
The ECB’s corporate bond-buying program, for instance, was originally going to purchase already existing bonds on the open market. But, it has morphed into a kind of closed market in which a favored group of companies issues bonds tailored to ECB specs.
The ECB just went a step further and bought bonds directly from two Spanish companies through private placements according to a recent Wall Street Journal report. One was to the Spanish oil company Repsol and the other to Iberdrola —an electric power utility. Morgan Stanley acted as underwriter in both cases.
In other words, the ECB bypassed public markets and simply loaned money to selected companies. They weren’t even going to tell anyone.
Now, maybe the ECB had good reason to make these two private transactions. I don’t know, and they won’t say. But we shouldn’t have to wonder.
Here’s the reality. The ECB is buying so much of the corporate bond market in Europe that it became difficult for it to find things to purchase on the public markets. As a result, the ECB must look into the private markets.
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