ECB certificates: a ready-made euro safe asset

The CMU must be backed by a stock of safe assets. The ECB can supply them, writes Daniel Hardy

The European Union has renewed its drive to create a true capital markets union (CMU) to fund the post-Covid-19 recovery – and, implicitly, reduce its reliance on London for financial services after Brexit. But tinkering with regulations is not enough. Now, in the face of crisis, Europe needs innovation to build the CMU and fulfill its objectives.

Essential to the project is the availability of an adequate volume of suitable ‘safe’ assets. These are needed to anchor investment portfolios and to