G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors have concluded a meeting in the United Kingdom today, issuing a **Communiqué** on commitments to restore global growth and reforms to the global financial system. *(See link below)*
United States Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner said, *”We met to prepare a comprehensive set of recommendations for the meeting of the heads of state early next month. This is a global crisis and it requires a coordinated global response. We have a strong consensus on the need for both recovery and reform so that we never face a crisis like this again.”* Other participants spoke to the *”significant amount of progress; a great deal of consensus”*, with reports that *”we have a very broad consensus globally on the need to act aggressively to restore growth to the global economy.”*
Agreements defined in the **Communiqué** include:
* A commitment to “fight all forms of protectionism and maintain open trade and investment”
* A commitment to restoring bank lending
* Sustained stimulus packages to provide “vital support for growth and jobs”.
* Maintaining low interest rates
* A commitment to helping developing nations
* An increase in funding to the IMF
In the area of regulatory reform, the **Communiqué** said: *”We have also agreed to regulatory oversight, including:*
* registration, of all Credit Rating Agencies whose ratings are used for regulatory purposes, and compliance with the International Organisation of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) code;
* full transparency of exposures to off- balance sheet vehicles;
* the need for improvements in accounting standards, including for provisioning and valuation uncertainty;
* greater standardisation and resilience of credit derivatives markets;
* the FSF’s sound practice principles for compensation; and
* the relevant international bodies identifying non-cooperative jurisdictions and to develop a tool box of effective counter measures.”
Speaking to the reform agenda, Secretary Geithner said the G-20 has agreed on a common framework of concrete changes to the international financial architecture. *”Risk does not respect national borders. We must establish a much stronger form of oversight and clear rules of the game, more evenly enforced across the international financial system. This will require comprehensive changes both at the national and international levels.”* He referenced Switzerland’s announcement to increase information sharing as part of the global effort to end tax evasion, saying *”We must promote financial market integrity.”*