Brussels, 25/09/2012 (Agence Europe) - On Tuesday 25 September, the finance ministers of Germany, the Netherlands and Finland set out what they feel should be guidelines for direct bank bailouts from the European Stability Mechanism (ESM) after a meeting of the three politicians in Helsinki. In a joint statement, they explain the guidelines as follows: - a common bank supervisory mechanism under the aegis of the European Central Bank should be set up and its effectiveness proven; - an ESM decision would be required, along with the drawing up of an economic adjustment programme in the form of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the country concerned; - the ESM would be responsible for problems encountered in the new common bank supervision system, but assets inherited from the past would remain in the hands of the country's authorities; - bank recapitalisation should be based on assets estimated at their real economic value; - banks would first of all have to seek to raise the funding they need on the markets by themselves, following which national bailout funds should be used - the ESM only intervening as a last resort. (MB/transl.fl)