German Case Against ECB Bond Buying Starts in Appeals Court

Europe’s highest appeals court plans to begin hearing arguments Tuesday morning on a suit that aims to block a European Central Bank (ECB) bond-buying program that has never been deployed — but whose mere announcement two years ago was widely credited with helping rescuing the euro zone from market forces that could have destroyed it.

The Court of Justice of the European Union, in Luxembourg, is not expected to rule until next year on the lawsuit, brought by a group of disgruntled Germans. But analysts will be listening closely Tuesday for indications of how the judges may be thinking about the legal issues.

“The discussion and specifically questions posed by the EU judges to the parties involved during the hearing might give some early insight on their views,” Thomas Harjes, an analyst at Barclays, said in a note to investors.

The suit involves a plan the European Central Bank announced in 2012 to buy bonds of stricken euro zone countries in order to hold down market interest rates on their government debt. At the time, market rates on bonds issued by Spain, Italy and some other countries had reached levels that could have eventually forced them to default.

via CNBC

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