U.S. urges Europe to take more action on bank backstops

PARIS (Reuters) - The United States would like to see Europe go further towards building backstops to prop up failed banks, U.S. Treasury Secretary Jack Lew said on Tuesday in Paris.

"We've made no secret over the years that we think having backstops in place is very important and we would like to see more action taken," Lew said after meeting with French Finance Minister Pierre Moscovici.

"It will continue to be our view that the more capital that there is in European banks, and the stronger the backstops are, the better it is for the European economy, the U.S. economy and the world economy," he told a joint news conference.

(Reporting by Jason Lange and Leigh Thomas; editing by Mark John)