Draghi: Europe needs single bank bailout fund

FRANKFURT, German — European Central Bank head Mario Draghi is urging creation of a common bank bailout fund to prevent bank failures from wrecking the financial system or costing taxpayers money.

Draghi said Tuesday in the European Parliament that such a bank resolution fund is the way to avoid the kind of disruption that occurred after the failure of U.S. investment bank Lehman Brothers in 2008.

The measure would put Europe in a position "where we can afford to let fail an important institution."

He said, "You need to have a common resolution framework, which we don't have now."

European officials are working on putting the ECB in charge of supervising banks, but have held off including a bailout fund in their proposal. Bailouts have weighed on the finances of Spain and Ireland.