For those claiming the ECB's deposit facility soared in the last days of 2011 primarily due to year end window dressing (for Tier 1 pig lispticking purposes or otherwise) they were right. Just barely and negligibly, but right. According to the ECB, the deposits as of January 1, 2012 were [3]€414 billion [3], a drop from €446 billion as of New Year's Eve, and just modestly off the all time record €452 billion. Alas, that does mean that all the other cash from the LTRO is there to plug capitalization holes for good, as was asserted here previously. As a reminder, ECB deposit facility usage as of December 21 or the day of the LTRO was €265 billion, which means that €150 billion of the total free cash uptake is locked up in the "out of one pocket and into another" pyramid scheme. The first print of 2012 is shown on the chart below.
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