Sovereign-Debt Conundrum Sets Up EU for Banking-Union Stalemate

  • Task force reports unlikely to resolve deposit-insurance fight
  • Working documents show difficulty in finding practical answer
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Europe’s drive to deepen integration of the euro-area banking system has bogged down as policy makers debate ways to rein in banks’ holdings of government debt.

This sovereign-debt issue has gained in importance in recent months because of Germany’s insistence that the 19-nation currency bloc should reduce the risks banks are facing, including sovereign debt on their balance sheets, before creating a common deposit insurance system to round out the so-called banking union.