The Decision removes the distinction between excess reserves and deposit facility holdings for institutions with deposit facility access from June 2026 onwards
April 10th, 2026 – ECB Decision (EU) 2026/812 amends ECB Decision (EU) 2019/1743 (ECB/2019/31), which governs the remuneration of excess reserve holdings and certain deposits in the Eurosystem. This comes after the Governing Council decided on 11 December 2025 to simplify the remuneration framework for excess reserves, with this Decision implementing that policy choice through the required legal amendments.
The core changes are straightforward in effect, if not in presentation: excess reserves held by eligible counterparties that have access to the deposit facility will now be remunerated at the deposit facility rate regardless of whether that rate is negative, zero, or positive. Previously, the framework applied the deposit facility rate to excess reserves only when it was negative, and when the rate was at or above zero, different treatment applied. The amendment removes that asymmetry.
The change applies specifically to a defined subset of institutions: those that qualify as eligible counterparties for Eurosystem monetary policy operations under Article 55 of the General Documentation Guideline (ECB/2014/60) and that meet the conditions for deposit facility access under Article 22 of that Guideline.
Three further categories are treated differently:
- Eligible counterparties that do not meet deposit facility access conditions continue to receive remuneration at the lower of zero or the deposit facility rate.
- Eligible counterparties subject to discretionary measures, meaning their access to the deposit facility has been limited, suspended, or excluded, receive deposit facility rate remuneration only up to the limit set in those measures, with the zero floor applying to excess amounts.
- Entities that are not eligible counterparties at all also continue to receive the lower of zero or the deposit facility rate.
