Feb. 22 (Bloomberg) -- European leaders said they will crack down on tax havens as they seek to boost transparency and apply uniform rules governing financial markets to stem the global crisis.

A seven-point plan agreed by European heads of state and government from the Group of 20 nations in Berlin today called for “sanctions” against “uncooperative jurisdictions.”

“We want to put a stop to tax havens,” French President Nicolas Sarkozy told reporters after the meeting. “We want results on this, with a list of tax havens and a series of consequences.” At a full G-20 summit in London in April, “Europe wants to see an overhaul of the system,” he said. “A new system without sanctions would not have any meaning.” The G-20 groups the main industrialized and developing countries, including China, Brazil and India.

Europe’s leaders are seeking to tighten rules governing offshore financial centers in response to the crisis that has forced governments to pledge $7 trillion to shore up banks worldwide.

Even so, efforts to shut down tax havens are a diversion as governments seek ways to counter the financial crisis and the global recession that has ensued, Fredrik Erixon, director of the European Centre for International Political Economy in Brussels, said after the meeting.

‘Pointing the Finger’

“They are pointing the finger at tax havens but the problems we’re having in the financial system have very little to do with tax havens,” he said in a telephone interview from Brussels. “They couldn’t agree on something more substantial so they went for the easy targets: tax havens and hedge funds. It’s all a smokescreen.”

Chancellor Angela Merkel, who hosted today’s meeting, said in her weekly Internet message broadcast yesterday that Germany wants to eliminate “blind spots on the global map when it comes to financial-market products, market participants and instruments.”

U.K. Chancellor of the Exchequer Alistair Darling criticized Switzerland’s banking rules for their lack of transparency in an interview with Britain’s Observer newspaper today, saying the Swiss government shouldn’t allow people to hide their wealth and avoid tax.

‘Got to Be Open’

“If it wants to be part of the international community, it’s got to be open,” Darling was quoted as saying. “Indeed, half the many problems we have got now is because people didn’t know what was going on. It’s one of the things Switzerland has got to address.”

German Finance Minister Peer Steinbrueck said in October that Switzerland should be placed on a list of tax havens being drawn up by the Paris-based Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development “because its investment conditions encourage some German taxpayers to commit fraud.”

The U.S. sued UBS AG in federal court on Feb. 19 to force Switzerland’s largest bank to disclose the names of 52,000 American customers who allegedly hid Swiss accounts from U.S. tax authorities. UBS agreed a day earlier to pay $780 million and disclose the names of about 250 customers to defer prosecution on a charge that it conspired to help wealthy Americans evade U.S. taxes over several years.

Sarkozy, addressing lawmakers at the European Parliament in Strasbourg Oct. 21, called for changes to the treatment of tax havens such as the Cayman Islands and Monaco.

Merkel, in her written summary of today’s talks, said the leaders agreed that “a list of uncooperative jurisdictions and a toolbox of sanctions must be devised as soon as possible.” Sanctions would cover “non-cooperation in exchanging information on tax evasion” with other countries, she said.

Taxes Evaded

Funds held offshore by individuals or companies to evade taxes or escape from political instability in their home countries are “somewhere between $5 trillion and $7 trillion,” according to OECD Secretary General Angel Gurria.

The OECD, which currently names Andorra, Monaco and Liechtenstein as uncooperative tax havens, is preparing a new “black list” and a separate “green list” of countries that are making progress in exchanging information on bank accounts. The list, together with proposals for retaliation, is scheduled to be ready in May or June 2009, Steinbrueck said.

“We’ve got to look at all jurisdictions,” Brown said Feb. 18 at a London press conference in which he laid out plans for the full G-20 meeting he will host April 2. “I’m more confident now we’re in a position to take further action on this matter.”

To contact the reporters on this story: Alan Crawford in Berlin at Acrawford6@bloomberg.net; Patrick Donahue in Berlin at pdonahue1@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: February 22, 2009 12:20 EST