The banks that are parking their money [about €1 trillion] at the ECB receiving only 0.25% interest are clearly not the same ones that are taking out three-year loans [€1.15 trillion] at 1%. The deposits come largely from northern European banks mainly German and Dutch, and LTRO loans go largely to banks in southern Europe mainly Italy and Spain. In other words, the ECB has become the central counterparty to a banking system that is de facto segmented along national lines. The real problem for the ECB is that it is not properly insured against the credit risk that it is taking on. The 0.75% spread between deposit and lending rates yielding €7.5 billion per year does not provide much of a cushion against the losses that are looming in Greece, where the ECB has €130 billion at stake.