EU finance ministers haggle over bank rules
BRUSSELS, May 15 (AP/UNB) - EU finance ministers are haggling in Brussels over rules to force banks to build up higher capital cushions to protect them against financial shocks, with the U.K. running the risk of being isolated in its position.
The EU's 27 members agree on the need to increase capital reserves, following an international agreement negotiated to avoid another financial meltdown such as the one in 2008. But the U.K. wants national regulators to be able to set significantly higher requirements than those of the EU - something opposed by almost all other EU members, who fear investors might then prefer UK banks.
On his way into the meeting Tuesday morning, George Osborne, the British Chancellor of the Exchequer, was non-committal, saying only that finance ministers needed to strengthen the EU's banking sector.
The EU's 27 members agree on the need to increase capital reserves, following an international agreement negotiated to avoid another financial meltdown such as the one in 2008. But the U.K. wants national regulators to be able to set significantly higher requirements than those of the EU - something opposed by almost all other EU members, who fear investors might then prefer UK banks.
On his way into the meeting Tuesday morning, George Osborne, the British Chancellor of the Exchequer, was non-committal, saying only that finance ministers needed to strengthen the EU's banking sector.
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