Governing Council of the European Central Bank Governing Council of the European Central Bank The Governing Council of the European Central Bank is the main decision-making body of the European Central Bank (ECB) and has "sole responsibility" for formulating monetary policy in the Eurozone. It comprises the members of the Executive Board of the European Central Bank and the governors of the national central banks (NCBs) of the eurozone countries. The Governing Council is responsible for formulating monetary policy for the Eurozone. Specifically: In general, the Governing Council (GC) meets twice a month at the Eurotower in Frankfurt, Germany. The first meeting is the most important and
European Central Bank bank announced on 8 December 2011 a new round of 1% interest loans with a term of three years (36 months) – the Long-term Refinancing operations (LTRO). Thanks to this operation, 523 Banks tapped as much as €489.2 bn (US$640 bn). The loans were not offered to European states, but government securities issued by European states would be acceptable collateral as would mortgage-backed securities and other commercial paper that have a sufficient rating by credit agencies. Observers were surprised by the volume of the loans made when it was implemented. By far biggest amount of was tapped by banks in