We are analysing the STEP-labelled commercial paper and certificate of deposit universe for the period up to April 30th, 2026. STEP data is sourced from the European Central Bank's own release which is put into the context of the wider European market using CMDportal's ISIN-by-ISIN database along with NEU CP data from the Banque de France. See the 'Where is this data coming from?' section below to understand the exact filters we used in this post.
Quick Takes:
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STEP is big, but only half the story
STEP‑labelled commercial paper and certificates of deposit now amount to around EUR 573bn and have grown by 6.5% over the past year, so they matter for policy and market monitoring.
However, STEP still captures less than half of the total European CP/CD market, meaning that roughly one in every two Euros of short‑term market funding is missing from official STEP statistics. -
Official STEP data systematically over‑weights banks and SSAs
The STEP label is widely used by banks and public issuers, but much less so by corporates and ABCP programmes, so the data are structurally skewed towards FIG and SSA names.
For policy users, this means that relying on STEP as a proxy for “the market” will overstate bank and sovereign activity and understate the role of non‑financial corporates and securitisation in short‑term funding. -
STEP statistics are high‑quality for what they cover, but incomplete for entity‑level risk
The ECB’s STEP series, now compiled via the CSDB, provide robust, timely information on labelled programmes and are an important public good for transparency.
Yet, because many large issuers fund themselves through both STEP and non‑STEP programmes, STEP data alone cannot be used to infer an issuer’s total short‑term debt, leaving gaps for counterparty, liquidity and concentration risk analysis. -
Public‑private data agreement is now a policy prerequisite, not a “nice‑to‑have”
To support financial stability, monetary policy transmission and Capital Markets Union, authorities need a consolidated view that joins official STEP statistics with granular ISIN‑level datasets such as those maintained by CMDportal.
A structured public‑private collaboration on data sharing and validation would turn today’s fragmented views into a single, coherent map of European money markets, aligning reported statistics with the actual funding patterns seen in the market.
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