German Court Challenges ECB Over Bond-Buying Scheme

Asset purchases by the European Central Bank (ECB) may have overstepped the bank's powers, Germany's Constitutional Court has said.

The German court had been asked to rule on whether the Public Sector Purchase Programme (PSPP) for the purchase of public sector securities was compatible with German law.

The PSPP is part of the ECB's Expanded Asset Purchase Programme (EAPP), a framework for the purchase of financial assets. It was launched by the European System of Central Banks (ESCB), which consists of the ECB and the national central banks of all EU countries. As of 12 May, the EAPP had reached a total volume of €1,862.1 billion, of which €1,534.8 billion was allotted to the PSPP, the court said.