EU court annuls ECB's policy on clearing houses in euro zone

LONDON, March 4 (Reuters) - The European Union's second highest court has ruled that the European Central Bank was wrong to insist that euro clearing houses should be based in the single currency area.

The General Court said on Wednesday it annuls the policy published by the ECB, which requires central counterparties to be located in the 19-country euro zone.

"The ECB does not have the competence necessary to impose such a requirement on central counterparties involved in the clearing of securities," the Luxembourg-based General Court said in a statement.

Britain had challenged the policy, saying it went against the bloc's single market.

(Reporting by Huw Jones, editing by Carolyn Cohn)