Brussels, 22/12/2010 (Agence Europe) - European finance ministers back the European Commission's work on an EU crisis management system to deal with the fallout of a bank going bust (see EUROPE 10236). In a conclusions document published earlier this month, they welcome the recommended timelines and methodology, stressing the need for the banks themselves to pay some of the financial cost of a crisis. As a priority, work on introducing national bank contributions should initially cover all lending establishments and too-big-to-fail investment companies, and be extended at a later stage to all financial institutions. Definitions of too-big-to-fail need to be drawn up, described as “criteria”, in line with the methodology being drawn up internationally. In the spring of 2011, the Commission will unveil draft legislation on harmonising national bank taxes to avoid double taxation and setting up an uneven playing field in the Common Market. For the coordination of national financial crisis prevention measures, the Commission recommends the setting up of “restructuring colleges” for cross-border financial institutions along the lines of the existing supervisor colleges. Noting this suggestion, the ECOFIN Council called for clarification of the powers such colleges would have and how they would interact with the national bank supervisors. (M.B./transl.fl)