Sarkozy And Merkel Warn On Finance Regulation

French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel
(Photo: REGIERUNGonline / Bergmann)

From The Financial Times:

President Nicolas Sarkozy and Chancellor Angela Merkel on Thursday warned the US and the banking industry not to thwart European efforts to tighten financial regulations this year.

In a blunt message to Barack Obama, the incoming US president, the French and German leaders made clear that the European Unionwas determined to set the agenda for the G20 summit in London on April 2.

The summit of leading and emerging economies will discuss ways of strengthening the architecture of global financial regulation.

“In the 21st century, there is no longer only one country that says what we should do and think,” Mr Sarkozy told a Paris conference on capitalism and ethics. “We will not accept any return to a single way of thought.”

He said later that Mr Obama’s agreement for a regulatory overhaul would be “so much the better” but was not indispensable.

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