The Bundesverfassungsgericht Preliminary Reference on the OMT Program: “In the ECB We Do Not Trust. What About You?”

Abstract

It should be no surprise that a case can be made both for and against the legality of secondary market bond purchases by the European Central Bank (ECB), and of the Outright Monetary Transactions (OMT) Program in particular. It is also no secret that the ECB—like many other institutional actors in Europe—is in several ways testing the boundaries of legal provisions as a consequence of the financial and sovereign debt crisis. Still, theBundesverfassungsgericht(Federal Constitutional Court) Order of 14 January 2014 on the OMT Program is surprising for several reasons.