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Rehn: EU weighs bank recapitalizations via ESM

FRANKFURT (MarketWatch) -- The European Commission has considered the possibility of directly recapitalizing euro-zone banks via the region's permanent bailout fund, but such a maneuver would require a treaty change, Olli Rehn, commissioner for monetary and economic affairs, said Monday, according to news reports. "We have been considering this as a serious possibility, of breaking the link between the sovereigns and the banks," Rehn said at a briefing in Brussels, according to Reuters. Such moves aren't allowed under the treaty, "but we see that it is important to consider this alternative of direct bank recapitalization as we are now moving on in the discussion on the possible ways and means to create a banking union," Rehn said, according to the report.