Geithner Meeting Barnier on Basel III Presses Banks

Two days after European Union leaders announced an almost $1 trillion plan to shore up debt markets, Michel Barnier, the EU’s financial services commissioner, was eating scones and sipping coffee with Timothy F. Geithner.

Also on the menu at the Washington meeting, Barnier’s first with the U.S. Treasury secretary: new international rules being considered by the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision. In a statement after the talks, the two men affirmed their commitment to push for “stronger capital and liquidity requirements.”