Why is a direct bank recapitalisation instrument necessary?

Until the creation of the direct recapitalisation instrument, the ESM could only recapitalise banks indirectly, via the sovereign. In this case, the ESM provides a loan to the government of a euro area Member State. With these funds the government then recapitalises the financial institutions, which is how the ESM provided assistance to Spain.

However, such assistance adds to the beneficiary country’s public debt, which could depress market sentiment. This unhealthy link between governments and banks is widely regarded as a crucial destabilising factor for some euro area countries. As a result, the leaders of euro area countries decided in June 2012 to develop an instrument that would allow banks to strengthen their capital position without placing a large burden on the country where the institution is incorporated.