EU watchdog tells banks to get a grip on costs, merge or close <!-- no image --> <div>Banks in the European Union could close branches, merge or leave the market to reverse a "bleak" outlook for profitability, the bloc's banking watchdog said on Friday.<div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.reuters.com/~ff/reuters/UKBankingFinancial?a=N95ffch0GnE:n22VQGa0GpY:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/reuters/UKBankingFinancial?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></a> <a href="http://feeds.reuters.com/~ff/reuters/UKBankingFinancial?a=N95ffch0GnE:n22VQGa0GpY:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/reuters/UKBankingFinancial?i=N95ffch0GnE:n22VQGa0GpY:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></a> <a href="http://feeds.reuters.com/~ff/reuters/UKBankingFinancial?a=N95ffch0GnE:n22VQGa0GpY:F7zBnMyn0Lo"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/reuters/UKBankingFinancial?i=N95ffch0GnE:n22VQGa0GpY:F7zBnMyn0Lo" border="0"></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/reuters/UKBankingFinancial/~4/N95ffch0GnE" height="1" width="1" alt=""></div> Posted by Reuters