Banknotes in circulation are traditionally the most important liability item in the balance sheet of central banks. The launch of euro cash created the need to treat this item in new way to reflect the joint liability of all Eurosystem members – the ECB and all national central banks (NCBs) of...

In the public and academic discussion on the payment system TARGET2, the high claims and liabilities of some euro area countries have mostly been associated with the financial crisis. The implicit assumption that TARGET2 balances would be close to zero without the financial crisis is both...