Fact is that the broadening of the operational and instrumental framework of the ECB, especially concerning eligible collateral and broad institutional access to central bank liquidity, has created a kind of informal euro area liquidity assistance.
Furthermore national ELA operations need to be flagged by the Governing Council and allow for extensive information sharing reinforced by bilateral contacts on a “know as you need” basis. Crossborder institutions benefited from nationally coordinated ELA, not only in the Benelux case of Fortis, but involved in other cases extensive cooperation between 2 or even 3 countries.