The data help us assess the impact of the ECB’s asset purchase programme (APP) on market functioning, as I explained in more detail in a speech I gave last week in Brussels.6 MMSR data show that since the ECB launched the APP there has been a marked shift away from trades backed by general collateral, which are traditionally used to manage cash.
Instead, there has been a growing share of repos off the general collateral curve, termed specials. Take for example the German Bund market. Traditionally, only around 5% of bonds in the German repo market traded as special, but in the second half of last year, that share rose to 50%.