MEP calls for banking rules to be eased

Draft European Union rules forcing banks to isolate their risky trading activities should be eased to take national measures into account and avoid harming markets, a senior MEP has proposed.

The EU is in the process of approving a law that would force banks to legally separate trading activities above a certain size so their collapse in any future market meltdown wouldn’t hurt customer accounts.

The draft law is seen by some MEPs as essential to rein in banks whose market bets helped trigger the 2007-2009 financial crisis in which taxpayers bailed out lenders.