Eurogroup head: No need for an extra ministerial meeting on SRM

Eurogroup President Jeroen Dijsselbloem said Monday that there is "no need" for another Eurozone ministerial meeting for discussing the Single Resolution Mechanism(SRM), indicating that a final agreement on SRM may be reached by the eurozone finance ministers within several days. As the second pillar of the European Banking Union, the SRM is part of an EU effort to prevent future financial crises by pooling responsibility for eurozone's failing banks. The Eurozone financial ministers' meeting, which started Monday, will discuss a wide range of issues such as Ukraine, Portugal and Greece, with the SRM capturing much attention among the press and market watchers. The eurozone finance ministers are trying to reach a compromise on the SRM and an accompanying fund to cover the cost of saving or closing banks. Market watchers warned before the meeting that if there is no agreement reached before the last meeting of the current European Parliament in mid- April, the legislative process will be delayed for at least seven months, or even longer and the Banking Union will become wastepaper again.