World’s leading economies call for more financial regulation

HORSHAM, England (AP) — The world’s leading economies called Saturday for greater financial market oversight, answering European calls for more rules to counter the largely unregulated parts of the financial system where high-risk hedge funds and derivatives traders operated under the radar.

In a joint statement, G20 finance ministers said “all systematically important financial institutions, markets and instruments are subject to an appropriate degree of regulation and oversight and that hedge funds or their managers are registered and disclose appropriate information to assess the risks they pose.”

They also agreed to oversight and registration of credit rating agencies, clearer accounting rules for problem assets, more standards for credit derivative markets and “a tool box of effective counter measures” against tax havens and noncooperative regions where looser financial rules apply.

French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde was quick to say this showed that a European push to extend financial rules and clamp down on tax havens would now be echoed by other parts of the world.

“Clearly our colleagues in the G20 moved in our direction,” she said. “France and Germany and pretty much all European countries were very keen that we had a breakthrough in relation to regulation and transparency.”

German Finance Minister Peer Steinbrueck greeted an American and British turnaround on these issues, saying neither wanted to look at these issues two years ago because it “could have affected negatively their financial markets in London and New York.”