Leaders rule out Euro bank rescue pool

PARIS, Oct. 5 (UPI) -- European leaders say they will act on their own to shore up failing financial institutions and banks rather than sign onto a formal continent-wide plan.

But the leaders of France, Britain, Italy and Germany also say they are planning a global economic summit to examine whether overhauls are needed for the existing World War II-era international financial system, The Washington Post reported Sunday.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy, Prime Ministers Gordon Brown of Britain and Silvio Berlusconi of Italy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel convened Saturday at an emergency meeting in Paris to discuss a concerted European response to the Wall Street financial crisis that has lead to a string of bank nationalizations in the U.S. and Europe.

Sarkozy, who has emerged as Europe's most vocal advocate of a continent-wide response, told reporters that for now, Europe's four leading economic powers have agreed to continue to address bank failures one case at a time.

He said each country would use "its own means" to safeguard banks from collapse, but would do so "in a coordinated way."

Merkel and Brown were particularly opposed to creating a Europe-wide pool for failing banks, the newspaper said.