Canada's Flaherty Says G-20 Seeking to Accelerate Financial Reform Rules
James Flaherty, Canada's finance minister, listens during a news conference at the G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors Meeting in Busan. Photographer: Tomohiro Ohsumi/Bloomberg
Canadian Finance Minister Jim Flaherty said the Group of 20 countries are seeking to accelerate financial reforms to reduce uncertainty for the banking industry.
“Uncertainty is the enemy here and banks and other financial institutions need to know as soon as reasonably possible” about the new rules, Flaherty told reporters today in Toronto. “There is some effort being made to accelerate those discussions.”
At a meeting of Group of 20 finance chiefs in Busan, South Korea, June 4-5, officials agreed to a November deadline to design new rules to raise the quality and quantity of capital held by banks, and to introduce them by December 2012.
Banks have warned that the capital proposals may impinge on credit and growth. UBS AG, Switzerland’s biggest bank, has estimated the proposals may force banks to raise as much as $375 billion in fresh capital.
A European and U.S. proposal to tax banks globally to cover the cost of bailouts was also defeated at the meeting, led by Canadian opposition to the initiative.
“We shouldn’t be distracted by bank levies and that kind of issue, which don’t cut to the chase and the chase is decreasing the likelihood of reckless risk taking,” Flaherty said today.
To contact the reporters on this story: Doug Alexander in Toronto at tdalexander3@bloomberg.net. Theophilos Argitis in Busan, South Korea at targitis@bloomberg.net.
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