The EU's biggest banks could be banned from speculative trading, under legislation proposed on Wednesday (29 January) by the European Commission.
EU financial services commissioner Michel Barnier told reporters that so-called proprietary trading, where banks bet exclusively with their own money rather than customers, would be outlawed.
The practice is often highly profitable for institutions but lawmakers say it serves neither clients or the health of the European economy.
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Benjamin Fox is a seasoned reporter and editor, previously working for fellow Brussels publication Euractiv. His reporting has also been published in the Guardian, the East African, Euractiv, Private Eye and Africa Confidential, among others. He heads up the AU-EU section at EUobserver, based in Nairobi, Kenya.