Euro zone bank fund to start in January with no delays: EU

[November 30, 2015]  BRUSSELS (Reuters) - A new euro zone fund for troubled banks will become operational from January as planned because a sufficient number of member states have completed the legal procedures, an EU statement said on Monday.

The euro zone's Single Resolution Fund (SRF) was agreed after the 2009-2012 euro zone debt and banking crisis to make sure that in case of new bankruptcies, banks would foot the bill rather than taxpayers.

For the fund to be operational, a minimum number of euro zone states had to ratify by Monday the agreement underpinning the SRF.

"The EU's single resolution mechanism will enter into force as foreseen on 1 January 2016," an EU Council statement said.

"As of 30 November 2015, a sufficient number of member states has ratified an intergovernmental agreement on the transfer and mutualization of contributions to a single resolution fund," the statement added.

Italy was the last major euro zone country to complete the ratification procedures, an EU official said.

On Friday, the head of the new fund, Elke Koenig, raised concerns about possible delays for the starting date of the fund as not enough states had ratified it.

(Reporting by Francesco Guarascio; Editing by Alastair Macdonald)

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