EU ministers can’t agree on bank levy

(Reuters) – European Union finance ministers failed to agree, this weekend, how to impose a bank levy, possibly delaying a global accord on taxing the financiers many accuse of causing recession. Asked about a bank levy, Elena Salgado, Spain’s economy minister who chaired the talks in Madrid, said: "No decision has been made … We will have to keep talking about types of crisis resolution instrument." Pressure is building globally to agree a way to tax banks before a meeting of leaders from the Group of 20 developed and emerging economies in June. Next week, the International Monetary Fund will present its ideas on a bank levy to G20 finance ministers in Washington.