France claims greater EU bank transparency

BRUSSELS, July 8 (Reuters) - Investors will soon find it easier to compare financial statements from banks in the European Union, helping avoid more surprise writedowns, the bloc's president France said on Tuesday.

"From August, banks will be able to publish their accounts on a harmonised basis," French Economy Minister Christine Lagarde told a news conference after a meeting of EU finance ministers.

Banks should apply guidelines published by their watchdogs last month on how to value financial products which have become untradeable, thereby presenting a more consistent industry-wide snapshot, EU finance ministers agreed at their meeting.

Governments want to improve transparency in a financial market gripped by the credit crisis for about a year as banks write down huge sums invested in securitised products hit by defaulting U.S. home loans.

Ministers said full disclosure by banks and other financial institutions of their exposures to such distressed assets and off balance-sheet vehicles was essential to bring back confidence in the market.

"In this respect, the Council (of finance ministers) underlines that the upcoming mid-year results need to be as comprehensive, legible and comparable as possible," conclusions adopted at the meeting said.

Banking watchdogs were asked to monitor how the guidelines were implemented following the publication of mid-year results by banks and to report back to ministers. (Reporting by Huw Jones; Editing by David Holmes)