ECB's Asmussen says ESM should be last port of call for banks

Europe's rescue fund should only be used in last instance to help banks shore up their balance sheets, European Central Bank (ECB) Executive Board member Joerg Asmussen said on Monday. A bank's owners and the market should be tapped first, and then states or national bank rescue funds, Asmussen told German public broadcaster ARD. "In the view of the ECB, the (European Stability Mechanism) ESM with the instruments that it has at its disposal is the last port of call," Asmussen said, adding that it was important to clarify how to shore up banks' balance sheets before the results of stress tests were released.

via Business News - Yahoo Finance http://finance.yahoo.com/news/ecbs-asmussen-says-esm-last-070220552.html