Banks should be dividedinto high-street deposit-taking banks for ordinary customers and separately capitalised institutions that carry out high-risk trading to reduce the possibility of taxpayers paying for reckless behaviour by bankers.

Irish banks will come directly under ECB supervision immediately the new eurozone system comes into force, under new proposals from the European Commission.

THE world’s top four audit firms will have to split up and rename themselves under a far-reaching draft EU law to crack down on conflicts of interest and shortcomings highlighted by the financial crisis.

NEW rules to ensure greater transparency in the ways credit rating agencies work have been agreed by the European Commission — but proposals to suspend ratings for countries in debt programmes, such as Ireland, were taken off the table.

AROUND 100,000 adults in Ireland do not have bank accounts — many of them have been refused on the grounds of being too poor, not having a permanent address, or because of their nationality.

POOR composition of company boards could explain why so many bad decisions were made that led to the current crisis, the European Commission claims.

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.

IRELAND will be one of the first countries to introduce new legislation that will see bondholders taking a hit if banks get into trouble, but it will come too late for taxpayers who are shouldering most of the burden in the current crisis.

We’re in a debt crisis but, apparently, don’t need the cash, and investors are not happy about the plan to spread the burden, writes Europe Correspondent Ann Cahill.

MEASURES to curb the powers of credit rating agencies, including making them liable for mistakes, are being floated by the European Commission.

THE arbitrary date of a 2014 compliance deadline with the EU’s stability and growth pact will irreparably damage our small, open economy, leading to the ESRI’s prediction of a ‘lost decade’ for Ireland.

A PLAN to ensure taxpayers would never again have to bail out banks has been put forward by the European Commission.

RESTRICTIONS on some of the practices blamed for triggering the economic crisis have been put forward by the European Commission as part of a major overhaul package.

THE EU’s financial system is to have a comprehensive new supervision system in force from next January, aimed at preventing another financial crisis.

AN investigation into unfair retail services may have uncovered why Ireland’s food prices are the second highest in the EU.

FRANCE and Germany have united in their call for a possible ban across the EU on naked short selling and told the European Commission they want proposals next month.

A MAJOR shake-up of corporate governance proposes giving more power to shareholders and limiting the number of directorships a person can hold, initially in financial instructions but later in all public companies.

BANKS should set aside money to manage future banking failures rather than calling on taxpayers, the European Commission has proposed.

A Europe-wide tax on banks will provide funds to ensure that future banking failures are not at taxpayers’ expense, the European Commission said today.

MONEY and Power.

IT was full steam ahead in Berlin yesterday with plans for the EU to regulate every aspect of the financial markets despite another day of nosediving figures for the euro and stocks.

GERMANY wants to ban governments in the eurozone from running deficit budgets, forcing them to spend no more than they take in taxes.

It looked like the revenge of the downtrodden.

THE first step towards setting up a Europe-wide multi -billion euro fund to rescue or liquidate failing banks was taken by EU finance ministers as part of a major crisis-management package.

An in-depth review is going to take place at EU level into insuring against natural disasters, which could prove helpful to those affected by the flooding of Cork in November.

AN investigation into insurance schemes designed to cover national disasters, including flooding, has been announced by the European Commission.

FORMER Finance Minister Charlie McCreevy has denied his actions contributed in any way to the creation of a construction bubble and the subsequent collapse of the Irish economy.

A MAJOR initiative aimed at creating jobs and expanding the whole services sector across the EU has not yet been implemented in Ireland.

TYING of financial products has been banned in Ireland for some time, but it has been replaced by other practices, such as mixed bundling, according to a study carried out for the European Commission.

AFTER almost 40 years of attempts, there has been a breakthrough in establishing a Europe-wide single patent system that will help slash the cost of creating and protecting patents.

Europe’s banks were condemned today for bamboozling customers with hidden charges, complex price structures and shoddy advice.

THE Government is being taken to court because it has not forced the Voluntary Health Insurance (Vhi) to put aside sufficient money to comply with EU insurance regulations.

COMMISSIONER Charlie McCreevy and the European Commission has been accused of stalling EU legal action against Ireland until after the elections to avoid embarrassing Fianna Fáil.

The European Commission is threatening Ireland with legal action for failing to adopt EU anti-money laundering rules into national law.

COUNTERFEITING is becoming a serious threat to people’s health and safety and to the economic future of the European Union, Internal Market Commissioner Charlie McCreevy has warned.

IRELAND would find itself out in the cold — being bypassed by the other European Union countries — if voters reject the new treaty in next year’s referendum, Charlie McCreevy has warned.

MULTINATIONAL companies across the EU favour a harmonised tax base and tax rates, according to a study from KPMG. Finance heads in more than 400 firms with turnover of more than €700 million were canvassed.

The Institute of Chartered Accountants in Ireland has welcomed the publication by Internal Market Commissioner Charlie McCreevy of proposals to simplify accounting, auditing and corporate governance rules for smaller companies.

PLANNING rules that restrict building permission to those who speak Irish, are from the locality or work on the land, are to be challenged by the European Commission.

THE rights of trade unions to take industrial action against the use of cheap labour from Eastern European nations were bolstered by recommendations issued at the European Court of Justice yesterday.

THE European Commission has met a number of Irish fears over plans for a common consolidated corporate tax base (CCCTB) when it discussed the latest progress report on the plan.

PLANS to harmonise the way corporate tax is calculated across the EU will undermine the Irish economy, Fianna Fáil MEP Eoin Ryan has warned.

VHI has warned that if the EU forces it to abide by the same rules as other health insurers it will have to cease to be a not-for-profit company.

EUROPEAN Internal Market Commissioner Charlie McCreevy is preparing to insist the Government changes the VHI’s favoured status in Ireland’s health insurance market.