The world's leading and developing economies are forging a new, global
approach to economics, declaring an end to the era of risky behavior by
big banks.
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown Friday reaffirmed
comments by the United States that the Group of 20 will become the
world's "premier international organization" on economic matters.
Mr.
Brown also said G20 leaders meeting in the eastern U.S. city of
Pittsburgh will be much tougher on banks and big financial firms than
many people expect, promising "There is no return to the bad old days."
Limiting
the risk-taking by big banks was one of the most contentious issues in
the lead-up to the summit. But G20 officials say leaders are close to
a deal that would control bonuses for bank executives and tie their
compensation to the performance of their financial institutions.
Some
economists and officials blame banks for plunging the global economy
into a deep recession, while some countries, including France and
Germany, have expressed outrage at the large bonuses paid to the top
executives at failed financial firms.
Officials say the final
deal also will require banks to hold more cash in reserve in case their
investments go bad, although it will not impose a hard cap on executive
compensation. U.S. officials had said such a requirement would be a
deal-breaker.
On Thursday, U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy
Geithner said Thursday there also was "strong consensus" on the need to
rebalance global trade so that it is no longer dependent on spending by
American consumers.
Until this summit, the Group of Eight major industrialized nations had been considered the world's leading economic group.
The
G20 consists of the G8 - the United States, Britain, France, Germany,
Italy, Japan, Canada and Russia - as well as Brazil, China, Indonesia,
Mexico, Argentina, Australia, India, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South
Korea, Turkey and the European Union.
Canada and South Korea announced Friday they will co-host the next G20, scheduled for June 2010.
Some information for this report was provided by AFP, AP and Reuters.
