BRUSSELS -- European Union finance ministers on Wednesday will try to reach an agreement on a new regulatory framework for the bloc's financial markets, but could face resistance from the U.K. The home to the EU's largest financial center is worried about ceding control over the City of London to a powerful new EU committee. The U.K. also wants to ensure its taxpayers can't be forced to fund bailouts for banks operating across the bloc's borders, and that there are clear limits to the power this group has to determine national spending priorities, EU diplomats say. A deal is within reach, according to the diplomats, but the precise language and powers given to the planned supervisory groups could be cause for some last-minute bickering during the ministers' regular monthly meeting in Brussels. Under the proposals the ministers will discuss, the EU would create two new supervisory groups for financial markets: a "macroprudential" body to study big-picture risks to financial stability and three "microprudential" groups to look at specific issues in the banking, securities, and insurance and pension sectors.[Read more...]