EU backs bank tax to end taxpayer bailouts

European banks may face taxes based on the size of their balance sheets, how much they owe other institutions or profits, the EU's Financial Services Commissioner Michael Barnier said today. The money raised would be used to pay for future bail-outs, the Daily Telegraph reports. "It is not acceptable that taxpayers should continue to bear the heavy cost of rescuing the banking sector," Barnier told the European Commission. "They should not be in the front line. I believe in the 'polluter pays' principle. "We need to build a system which ensures that the financial sector will pay...