The Eurosystem conducts market operations with its monetary policy counterparties, giving them access to standing facilities.
In principle, all financially solid credit institutions required to hold minimum reserves with the central bank have the right to act as monetary policy counterparties. However, in practice this right is restricted by certain requirements imposed on counterparties by national central banks and the European Central Bank (ECB) in order to ensure the efficient implementation of monetary policy.
The pool of eligible counterparties for the purposes of the ECB's asset purchase programmes also covers, in addition to the counterparties of the credit operations, the counterparties used by the NCBs in their euro-denominated investment activities.
Finnish banks and Finnish subsidiaries and branches of foreign banks may apply for the right to participate in Eurosystem monetary policy operations through the Bank of Finland.