Luxembourg, 21/06/2013 (Agence Europe) - The Ecofin Council was settling down for long hours of debate on Friday 21 June in the hope of reaching agreement in principle on the draft directive on national bank resolution schemes (see EUROPE 10869).
The Irish Presidency said it was determined to get agreement on Friday, even if that meant staying up all night, although there are rumours of a special Ecofin Council meeting next week. After an initial round-table discussion and a number of bilateral meetings on Friday morning, work resumed in the afternoon in the absence of British Finance Minister George Osborne.
A political agreement would pave the way for inter-institutional talks with the European Parliament, and would be three-pronged, requiring agreement on bail-in for dealing with failing banks by establishing a hierarchy of private lenders (shareholders, bond-holders, savers with more than €100,000 in the bank); - the minimum size of national bank resolution funds (0.8% of savings covered if the resolution fund is separate from the savings guarantee fund, otherwise 1.3% ); - the minimum debt level that could be tapped for a restructuring and that a bank would be required to hold. The talks focus on the interaction of these three elements. Whatever happens, and Cyprus is in everyone's minds, savings of up to €100,000 will always be covered by member states' savings guarantee schemes. The United Kingdom does not want bank resolution funds to be financed by banks in advance of any crisis. (MB/transl.fl)