This money was created with the approval of the Governing Council of the ECB.

FORBES: Ireland's Promissory Note Deal

The Governing Council of the ECB will provide liquidity to the BoC in line with applicable rules.

FORBES: Links 25 March: Sense In Cyprus, How To Deal With Both Deposit Insurance And Moral Hazard

Which is why a rare emergency meeting Sunday night of the ECB's governing council is being seen as vitally important - because not all members of the governing council are in favour of buying Italian debt.

BBC: Is Europe facing its own Lehman moment?

Under ELA, banks borrow from their national central bank, in this case the Bank of Greece, with approval of the ECB's governing council.

WSJ: Europe Girds for Greek Exit

There is a meeting of the ECB's governing council on Thursday.

BBC: Eurozone crisis: Buying time by buying bonds

The Frenchman will get his hands on the interest-rate tiller as soon as November 6th, when the 18 members of the ECB's governing council gather for the first time under his leadership.

ECONOMIST: Trichet's cachet | The

The ECB Governing Council could have shut down the ELA operation using its powers under Article 14 of the ECB statute.

FORBES: Ireland's Promissory Note Deal