The issue: the European Central Bank’s third Covered Bond Purchase Programme. Announced last September, launched on October 20 and running until June 2016. CBPP3 was a precursor to full-blown QE, whose €60bn of monthly bond purchases was announced days before the IFR Roundtable. By mid-February, Eurosystem purchases of covered bonds had reached €46bn – of which 80% lifted from the secondary market. The sum of CBPP3 purchases was at that time already greater than the aggregate of the programme’s

IFR: Beyond ECB, one of the bigger issues I’d like to raise with you is the future of the Pfandbriefe as a product, because we’ve seen dwindling supply. In the medium to long term, where do you see this product? We’re not discussing its qualities, which I think are given, but negative net supply is a problem. It creates distortions for investors and for issuers as well. Is this a perennial problem? Is there a solution to this? Jens Tolckmitt, VDP: I’m always, as I said before, as an association

IFR: Franz-Josef, Rafael makes a good point. Every argument has two sides. How does the current status quo influence the way that you approach your job? Franz-Josef Kaufmann, Commerzbank: It’s very interesting following the different opinions. I’m closer in my view to Rafael. In my various conversations with the Bundesbank, I have the impression that the Eurosystem wants to be seen as an investor and we, as the market, we as issuers, should see them as such. As Rafael said, we remember times whe

IFR: Thank you for attending IFR’s latest Pfandbriefe Roundtable. The big topic of the moment, of course, revolves around the actions of the ECB and its latest covered bond purchase programme – CBPP3 – which has received a lot of negative sentiment from the covered bonds community. I suspect this will form a central theme of our discussion today. Jens, let me come straight to you. While it may be difficult today to get beyond the purchase programme and its current impact, should we keep it in pe

Bodo Winkler Berlin Hyp Bodo Winkler is head of investor relations at Berlin-Hannoversche Hypothekenbank (Berlin Hyp) based in Berlin. He previously worked as a division manager at the Association of German Pfandbrief Banks (vdp), responsible for Pfandbrief and capital markets issues and as an asset manager with Deutsche Kreditbank. Franz-Josef Kaufmann Commerzbank Franz-Josef Kaufmann is global head of capital markets funding at Commerzbank. Before joining Commerzbank, Kaufmann was head of capi