EU 'fire brigade'
THE head of the International Monetary Fund says the European Union needs "a fire brigade" to deal with the collapse of banks that operate across several countries.
Dominique Strauss-Kahn says existing plans "have proven to be inadequate".
He is calling for a new European authority – funded by in part levies on financial groups – to deal with insolvent banks that would force shareholders and uninsured creditors to bear the costs of failure. Taxpayers picked up the bill for banks that nearly collapsed in 2008.