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Bundesbank opposes the granting of a banking license to the bailout funds (Telegraph)

After ECB council member, Ewald Nowotny, having said on Wednesday, there were arguments in favor of giving Europe's rescue fund a banking license, giving it access to ECB lending, today, the German finance ministry and the Bundesbank have rejected the virtual chance of the European bailout funds (EFSF e ESM) being granted a banking license, because that would mean state financing via monetary policy, which is not allowed by European treaties.  

Telegraph:
"The Bundesbank has repeatedly expressed in the past that it views bond purchases critically because they blur the line between monetary and fiscal policy."

The German central bank also rejected any idea of the eurozone's permanent rescue fund - or European Stability Mechanism (ESM) - getting a banking licence so it could tap central bank funds.

"A banking licence for the bailout fund would factually mean state financing via the printing press and would be a fatal route, which therefore is prohibited by the EU treaty," the spokesman said. (...)

Marianne Kothe, the Finance ministry spokesman, reiterated Berlin's view that the EU treaty does not allow the EFSF bailout fund to receive a banking licence - one idea mooted to relieve market pressure on heavily indebted states such as Spain.
source: Bundesbank opposes ECB bond buying | Telegraph
read also: ECB's Nowotny admits Banking License for ESM (BBG) | Expresso

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