New bank bailout deal 'will shield taxpayers'
EU Finance Ministers have agreed to force investors and wealthy savers to share the costs of future bank failures.
Reuters says the draft agreement comes after seven hours of talks overnight - and contains a blueprint to close or salvage banks in trouble.
In the past, the rule of thumb in Europe has been that savers should never lose their deposits, no matter what trouble befalls their bank This draft agreement breaks that.
It stipulates that shareholders, bondholders and depositors with more than €100,000 should share the burden of saving a bank.
Commenting on the deal, the Dutch Finance Minister Jeroen Dijsselbloem has said "for the first time, we have agreed on a significant bail-in to shield taxpayers".
The agreement comes ahead of a meeting of EU leaders in Brussels later today.
