Between May 2010 and September 2012, following tensions in some euro area government bond markets, the Eurosystem conducted its securities markets programme (SMP), a secondary market purchase programme for public and private debt securities. The SMP ensured depth and liquidity in market segments marked by strong tensions, restoring the smooth functioning of the monetary policy transmission mechanism. To avoid injecting additional liquidity into the banking system, the purchases were fully offset (up to June 2014) by fixed term deposit transactions conducted on a weekly basis. Purchases under the SMP ended after the announcement of outright monetary transactions (OMTs).
In addition, the Eurosystem conducted two other covered bank bond purchase programmes: CBPP1, between July 2009 and June 2010, and CBPP2, between November 2011 and 2012.
