EU wants bank fund to pay for future collapses
THE European Union is considering making banks pay for an emergency wind-up fund in case one of them goes bust, in an attempt to avert another Lehman-style crisis.
Michael Barnier, the man in charge of new European financial regulation, told a conference of financial watchdogs in Brussels that the banks should foot the bill for a future crisis in their industry.
He said: “I favour the ‘polluter pays’ principle.
“The financial institutions are going to have to be called upon to contribute to such a fund. Why should our citizens be footing the bill?
“The financial institutions are going to have to be called upon to contribute to such a fund.
“We have to be clear about a resolution fund. We have to have a regime that aims at restructuring the banks.”
However, Britain has indicated it would be against any central fund to bail out ailing European lenders.