EU likely to publish bank test results

BRUSSELS, June 17 (UPI) -- European Union Commissioner Jose Manuel Barroso said results of international bank stress tests would likely be made pubic, sources told The New York Times.

"We have to remove unjustified suspicions," an EU official told the newspaper. Spain and Germany this week both indicated they would be willing to publish results of stress tests for cross-border banks.

A draft proposal on publishing the results includes a directive on how banks would be recapitalized, stipulating that the funds would not come from the EU fund meant to bailout debt-burdened countries in Europe. That meant that individual governments would be able to set plans in place to recapitalize banks before the results were published, the Times said.

The draft agreement covers "25 systemically important banks" in Europe, the official said.

Barroso said he was confident a summit of 27 EU leaders would reach an agreement on the issue Thursday, in time for the Group of 20 Nations meeting in Toronto next week.