BNP PARIBAS 
The European Banking Authority (EBA) published draft rules for consultation that detail the so-called minimum requirement for own funds and eligible liabilities (MREL) that all banks must have under a new EU law on handling bank collapses.
It would comprise the core capital buffers banks already hold, topped up with similar capital, retained earnings or bonds that can be written down.
New authorities being set up across the EU to deal with stricken lenders will determine by 2016 on a bank-by-bank basis how much MREL each lender must hold.
Banks would then have four years to comply.
The aim of the EBA's consultation paper is to restrict how much latitude the authorities have in their MREL determinations so that the rule is applied consistently across the EU's 28 countries.
The EBA also spelled out how the rules would dovetail with an initiative at the global level led by the Financial Stability Board (FSB), which has proposed a similar buffer, known as Total Loss Absorbing Capacity or TLAC.
The FSB has gone further than the EU by proposing an actual minimum amount that is equivalent to 16-20 percent of a bank's risk-weighted assets.
It will apply to the world's 30 top banks, 13 of them in the EU, such as Deutsche Bank, HSBC and BNP Paribas and representing the bulk of the bloc's banking assets.
"Built into the EU framework is a review by EBA in 2016 covering the alignment with the international framework," Stefano Cappiello, EBA's head of recovery and resolution unit, told Reuters.
"The European Commission, European Parliament and EU states could decide whether legislation is needed to put the TLAC figure into EU law," Cappiello added.
The EU rules are also less detailed on what sort of bonds are eligible, whereas the FSB says such bonds must be subordinated to ensure they are speedily available when needed.
(Additional reporting by Anna Brunetti of IFR, editing by Keith Weir)
By Huw Jones
