1.   Subject to requirements laid down in this Article, euro-denominated marketable debt securities issued by central governments of a Member State whose currency is the euro, recognised agencies located in the euro area, international organisations located in the euro area and multilateral development banks located in the euro area shall be eligible for purchases by the Eurosystem central banks under the PSPP. In exceptional circumstances, where the envisaged purchase amount cannot be attained, the Governing Council may decide to purchase marketable debt securities issued by other entities located in the euro area, in accordance with the conditions laid down in paragraph 4.

2.   In order to be eligible for purchases under the PSPP, marketable debt securities shall comply with the eligibility criteria for marketable assets for Eurosystem credit operations pursuant to Annex I to Guideline ECB/2011/14 (2), subject to the following requirements:

3.   In order to be eligible for purchases under the PSPP, debt securities, within the meaning of paragraphs 1 to 2, shall have a minimum remaining maturity of two years and a maximum remaining maturity of 30 years at the time of their purchase by the relevant Eurosystem central bank. In order to facilitate smooth implementation, marketable debt instruments with a remaining maturity of 30 years and 364 days shall be eligible under the PSPP. National central banks shall also carry out substitute purchases of marketable debt securities issued by international organisations and multilateral development banks if the envisaged amounts to be purchased in marketable debt securities issued by central governments and recognised agencies cannot be attained.

4.   Eurosystem central banks may, in exceptional circumstances, propose to the Governing Council public non-financial corporations located in their jurisdiction as issuers of marketable debt instruments to be purchased as substitutes in case the envisaged amount to be purchased in marketable debt instruments issued by central governments or recognised agencies located in their jurisdiction cannot be attained. The proposed public non-financial corporations shall at least fulfil both of the following criteria:

Following approval by the Governing Council, euro-denominated marketable debt instruments issued by such public non-financial corporations located in the euro area which comply with (i) the eligibility criteria for marketable assets as collateral for Eurosystem credit operations, as per Section 6.2.1 of Annex I to Guideline ECB/2011/14; and (ii) the requirements in paragraphs 2 and 3 shall be eligible for purchases as substitutes under the PSPP.

5.   In principle, purchases of nominal marketable debt instruments at a negative yield to maturity (or yield to worst) above the deposit facility rate are permissible.

1.   To permit the formation of a market price for eligible securities, no purchases shall be permitted in a newly issued or tapped security and the marketable debt instruments with a remaining maturity that are close in time, before and after, to the maturity of the marketable debt instruments to be issued, over a period to be determined by the Governing Council (‘blackout period’). For syndications, the blackout period in question is to be respected on a best effort basis before the issuance.

2.   For debt securities issued or fully guaranteed by the central governments of euro area Member States under a financial assistance programme, the period of purchases under the PSPP after a positive outcome of each programme review shall, as a rule, be limited to two months, unless there are exceptional circumstances justifying a suspension of purchases before or a continuation of purchases after such period and until the start of the next review.

1.   Subject to Article 3, an issue share limit per international securities identification number shall apply under the PSPP to marketable debt securities fulfilling the criteria laid down in Article 3, after consolidating holdings in all of the portfolios of the Eurosystem central banks. The limit will initially be set at 25 %, for the first six months of purchases and subsequently reviewed by the Governing Council.

2.   In case of debt securities referred to in Article 3(2)(c), a different issue share limit will apply.

3.   Under the PSPP, an aggregate limit of 33 % of an issuer's outstanding securities shall apply to all eligible marketable debt securities in respect of the maturities defined in Article 3, after consolidating holdings in all of the portfolios of the Eurosystem central banks.

1.   Of the total value of purchased marketable debt securities eligible under PSPP, 12 % shall be purchased in securities issued by eligible international organisations and multilateral development banks, and 88 % shall be purchased in securities issued by eligible central governments and recognised agencies. This allocation is subject to revision by the Governing Council. Purchases in debt securities issued by eligible international organisations and multilateral development banks shall be conducted by NCBs only.

2.   The NCBs' share of the total market value of purchases of marketable debt securities eligible under PSPP shall be 92 %, and the remaining 8 % shall be purchased by the ECB. The distribution of purchases across jurisdictions shall be according to the key for subscription of the ECB's capital as referred to in Article 29 of the Statute of the ESCB.

3.   Eurosystem central banks shall apply a specialisation scheme for the allocation of marketable debt securities to be purchased under the PSPP. The Governing Council shall allow for ad hoc deviations from the specialisation scheme should objective considerations obstruct the achievement of the said scheme or otherwise render deviations advisable in the interests of attaining the overall monetary policy objectives of the PSPP. In particular, each NCB shall purchase eligible securities of issuers of its own jurisdiction. Securities issued by eligible international organisations and multilateral development banks may be purchased by all NCBs. The ECB shall purchase securities issued by central governments and recognised agencies of all jurisdictions.

1.   The Eurosystem shall publish on a weekly basis the aggregate book value of the securities held under the PSPP in the commentary of its consolidated weekly financial statement.

2.   The Eurosystem shall publish on a monthly basis the weighted average residual maturity by issuer residence, separating international organisations and multilateral development banks from other issuers, of its PSPP holdings.

3.   The book value of securities held under the PSPP shall be published on the ECB's website under the open market operations section on a weekly basis.