Ministers locked in banking recovery debate

How and when banks and other credit and investment firms will be rescued or wound up in future at a minimum cost to the taxpayer were being debated by EU finance ministers in Luxembourg last night, in a bid by the Irish presidency to get member states to agree on the basic rules.

Known as the Banking Recovery and Resolution Directive (BBRD), it covers the three stages of dealing with a crisis; prevention, early intervention, and resolution or winding up.

It is designed to help restructure Europe’s struggling banking sector, which has hindered eurozone recovery.