Finnish PM wants bank-financed European crisis fund

Finnish Prime Minister Jyrki Katainen on Friday proposed creating a bank-financed European crisis fund to recapitalise ailing banks, as part of a three-pronged supervision mechanism. In an interview with financial weekly Talouselaemae conducted August 1 and published Friday, Katainen proposed a single European banking supervisory authority, a joint banking crisis fund and a common deposit protection fund. "We should be able to build a system where banks cannot shake up entire countries. One solution, in addition to monitoring, could be a European bank crisis fund," Katainen told the magazine. The fund's resources would be collected from the banks, he said. Katainen said the central problem of the euro crisis was the connection between banks and states, and stressed the link needed to be broken. The PM also expressed disappointment that a European Union summit in late June swiftly dismissed his proposal of collateralised bonds, in which the state provides a loan guarantee, for example, by earmarking property tax revenue or debt. He said he wanted the proposal to be considered again. Finland is one of only several EU countries to still hold a top triple-A credit rating from all three main ratings agencies. It has taken a tough line on eurozone bailouts, seeking collateral from Greece and Spain in exchange for its participation.