Sarkozy, Brown push for new tax haven rules, tighter financial regulation

September 26th, 2009 EU presidency: G-20 summit was 'a step forward'STOCKHOLM — The EU presidency calls the Pittsburgh Group of 20 summit "a step forward," because world leaders agreed to restrict bankers' bonuses and introduce tougher financial market regulation. Swedish Premier Fredrik Reinfeldt and Finance Minister Anders Borg say the agreements struck at the summit of rich and developing nations "took the first steps toward a more sustainable financial system." The key deals struck by the G-20 in Pittsburgh included tougher rules on bonus payments, improved regulation of the financial market as well as stricter supervision.

September 17th, 2009 France: EU calls for global cap on bank payBRUSSELS — French President Nicolas Sarkozy says that EU leaders have agreed to impose a cap on bankers' pay. He told reporters that all 27 EU nations are in "total unity" that the world cannot repeat the "scandal" of bonuses for executives and traders that encouraged banks to take huge risks.

September 4th, 2009 7 European countries want strict bank bonus limitsSTOCKHOLM — Seven European countries on Friday called on G-20 leaders to put together strict limits on bonuses to bank executives, calling excessive payouts not only "dangerous" but also "indecent, cynical and unacceptable." In a joint opinion piece in Swedish daily Dagens Nyheter the finance ministers of Sweden, France, Spain, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg and the Netherlands said risks related to payouts should be surveilled very strictly. "Bonuses guaranteed for more than a year should be banned.

August 26th, 2009 Sarkozy calls for worldwide bonus rulesPARIS — President Nicolas Sarkozy is urging other countries to follow France's example and limit bonuses handed out to bank traders to avert the kind of risk-taking blamed for fueling the financial crisis. Sarkozy also says that current world governance systems such as the Group of Eight are "stupid" and that they should be broadened to include poorer nations.

July 26th, 2009 PARIS - French President Nicolas Sarkozy was taken to hospital Sunday after falling ill while exercising, French media reports said. France Info radio said the incident occurred before noon at his residence in Versailles.

June 22nd, 2009 Sarkozy warns crisis not over yetVERSAILLES, France — French President Nicolas Sarkozy warned Monday that the economic crisis "is not finished," but added that the profound changes it is causing mean France's views will carry more weight around the world. Sarkozy also pledged that he would not introduce austerity policies as a result of the downturn, and said "I will not raise taxes because ...

June 18th, 2009 EU leaders agree financial oversight reformBRUSSELS — European Union leaders agreed Thursday that new EU financial oversight agencies could overrule national regulators as a last resort — but soothed British fears by saying they shouldn't order them to use taxpayers' money to bail out banks, diplomats said. EU nations say they need better oversight of banks and markets to prevent a repeat of last year's financial crisis, which has sent the global economy into its worst downturn since the Second World War.

April 2nd, 2009 LONDON - Leaders of the world's largest economies, including India, Thursday pledged a $1.1 trillion package alongside measures for a tighter regulation of the international financial system to help bring the world out of recession. The measures were also designed to prevent future shocks.

April 2nd, 2009 LONDON - When it comes to solving the global economic crisis, Obama and Britain's Brown are at philosophical odds with France's Sarkozy and Germany's Merkel. But host Brown predicts brandy and cigars soon.

April 1st, 2009 LONDON - US President Barack Obama arrived in London Tuesday for the Group of 20 (G20) summit of the world's big economic powers at the start of his first major foray onto the global stage. After he and his wife, Michelle, touched down at London's Stansted Airport they travelled by helicopter to the US ambassador's elegant residence in Regent's Park in central London.

April 1st, 2009 PARIS - French President Nicolas Sarkozy and his Brazilian counterpart Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said Wednesday that their countries were preparing a proposal for a new world governance to prevent future economic crises caused by a lack of regulation. 'We want (at least) a minimum of regulation in the face of the disaster that has been caused by total deregulation,' Sarkozy told journalists in Paris after a meeting with Lula just hours before the two were to travel on to London for the G20 summit.

April 1st, 2009 LONDON - US President Barack Obama rejected Wednesday talk of deep divisions between the world's big economic powers gathering in London for a summit on the global economic crisis, while he also laid out new foreign policy directions for his administration. The differences between world leaders attending the Group of 20 (G20) meeting of the leading industrialised nations and emerging economies had been 'vastly overstated', Obama said at a joint press conference with G20 host, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown.

April 1st, 2009 LONDON - Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has said there is a need for an international 'umpire' to ensure that rich nations are fulfilling their pledges. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) needs a new monitoring body - an 'expert crew' - to ensure that any stimulus packages agreed by the Group of 20 (G20) leaders meeting in London are 'sustained and maintained' next year.

March 13th, 2009 BERLIN - Europe looks set for a collision course with the US over solutions to the global economic crisis, as Germany and France jointly called Thursday for greater regulation of financial markets. German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy presented a united front at talks in Berlin, opposing US demands for increased economic stimulus to tackle the crisis.

January 7th, 2009 PARIS - French President Nicolas Sarkozy Thursday opened an economic symposium in Paris by calling for the 'moralization' of the capitalist system. 'We must work, not for the destruction of capitalism - which would be a catastrophe - but for its moralization,' Sarkozy said at the opening of the symposium New World, New Capitalism, which he established as a response to the economic crisis.