EU bid to impose tougher penalties on bankers who break rules

PENALTIES for breaking rules on the kind of financial services that led to the economic crisis are as little as €100,000 in some countries, according to a study carried out in the EU.

But in future bankers, insurance companies and others providing financial products could face prison or fines of several million euro under proposals outlined by the European Commission.

Internal Market Commissioner Michel Barnier said that while he does not intend to harmonise penalties throughout the EU, he wants them to be similar.