The European Union has pursued a number of initiatives to create a safer and sounder financial sector for the single market. In parallel, bold unconventional monetary policies have been implemented in order to combat low inflation, foster risk taking and, ultimately, reinvigorate growth. But...

In March, the Eurosystem started to purchase on the secondary market euro-denominated bonds issued by governments, agencies and European institutions. The total amount of bond purchases is estimated to 1.14 trillion EUR until September 2016, or 60 billion EUR per month. The size of the Expanded...