GERMANY: Rules to impose a levy on banks must be embedded in a European structure, German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble says during visit by French Economy Minister Christine Lagarde
Record ID:
559930
GERMANY: Rules to impose a levy on banks must be embedded in a European structure, German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble says during visit by French Economy Minister Christine Lagarde
- Title: GERMANY: Rules to impose a levy on banks must be embedded in a European structure, German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble says during visit by French Economy Minister Christine Lagarde
- Date: 1st April 2010
- Summary: SLATE INFORMATION
- Embargoed: 16th April 2010 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Germany
- Country: Germany
- Topics: Finance
- Reuters ID: LVA7FCKE0B3T5LNQ5DTGTRED4ID
- Story Text: Germany and France said on Wednesday (March 31) bank levies should be imposed internationally to ensure a level playing field and called for national bank restructuring rules to be embedded in a European framework.
France is the latest country to seek a levy on bank balance sheets to fund bank bailouts, after Germany earlier this month announced plans to introduce such a charge.
"We agree fundamentally on the international nature that this mechanism should have," the French Economy Minister Christine Lagarde told a joint news conference with German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble in Berlin.
The move raises the chances of the G20 group of countries agreeing to a bank levy at their summit in June.
Earlier on Wednesday, the German cabinet had agreed new bank restructuring rules, including the introduction of a levy, which aim to reduce "moral hazard", or banks assuming they will be bailed out with taxpayer money in a crisis.
In a joint statement, France and Germany said the new proposals were a "useful contribution to the international debate on how to mitigate systemic risk", and such national rules needed to be integrated into a European framework. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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