A leading shareholder group has called for an inquiry into whether the European Union should create a single financial watchdog, saying that the credit crunch has caused a โ€œfailure of trustโ€ between the EUโ€™s national regulators.

The Association of British Insurers (ABI) made the call when it launched a plan to help restore confidence and trust in European financial services. The body speaks for 90 percent of the U.K insurance market and about a fifth of the EUโ€™s; its members own around 15 percent of the companies on the London Stock Exchange.