The malfunctioning of the foreign exchange swap market had made the currency mismatch in banks’ balance sheets extremely severe. Thanks to our policy, they could count on ongoing access to foreign currency balances. This policy was made possible by the very close cooperation between central banks in the crisis.
Finally, the Governing Council’s decision to intervene directly in the financial market by purchasing covered bonds was meant to re-ignite activity in a market segment that is particularly important as a source of funding for banks. IV. Liquidity and exit considerations  Our enhanced credit support policies have boosted market liquidity.