Financial Regulatory Forum

By Marcin Grajewski and Jan Strupczewski

BRUSSELS, Feb 11 (Reuters) – European leaders have reached a deal to provide aid to Greece, EU president Herman Van Rompuy said on Thursday, in an unprecedented move to stave off a broader crisis in the 16-nation bloc that shares the euro.

“There is an agreement on the Greek situation. We will communicate now the agreement to the other leaders,” van Rompuy told reporters gathered at an EU leaders’ summit.

The agreement was forged in talks between Van Rompuy, European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, French President Nicolas Sarkozy, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet and Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou.

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk told reporters earlier that the aid, which would amount to the first bailout of a euro zone members since the currency was created 11 years ago, was likely to come in the form of loans.

“It could be voluntary loans from member states. That seems to be the best option,” Tusk said.

– The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions expressed are his own –

By Hugo Dixon

DAVOS, Switzerland, Jan 28 (Reuters Breakingviews) – Nicolas Sarkozy’s anti-market rhetoric is misconceived. The French president used his address in Davos to blast the untrammelled free market. While the economic crisis has certainly exposed deficiencies in financial capitalism, this is largely because market forces were too weak rather than too strong.

Sarko had some easy targets. Top of the list were bankers. Their “heads-I-win, tails-you-lose” pay practices are an outrage. But these are not the result of the free market operating properly. They are the result of governments and central banks rushing in and bailing the industry out when it runs into trouble.

   By Sophie Hardach
   PARIS, Sept 15 (Reuters) – U.S. President Barack Obama and French President Nicolas Sarkozy joined forces on Tuesday ahead of the Group of 20 summit in Pittsburgh, agreeing to work toward new decisions on the economy and the financial system, Sarkozy’s office said. (more…)

By Anna Willard
BRUSSELS, Sept 2 (Reuters) – European finance ministers pledged on Wednesday to clamp down on banker bonuses, raising the prospect of spreading such payouts over years or demanding back money if business turns sour.

(more…)

By Anna Willard
PARIS, Sept 1 (Reuters) – France is optimistic about upcoming G20 meetings because many leaders, including British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, have moved closer to the French position, Economy Minister Christine Lagarde said.

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BERLIN, Aug 26 (Reuters) – Germany and France want G20 nations to reach an agreement on tougher rules governing bonus payments in the financial sector, German Finance Minister Peer Steinbrueck said in an interview published on Wednesday.

“We need international agreement here as well,” the Handelsblatt newspaper quoted Steinbrueck as saying with regard to the Group of 20 meeting of finance ministers hosted by Britain next week.

(more…)

By Anna Willard
PARIS, Aug 24 (Reuters) – President Nicolas Sarkozy will push French bankers this week to do more to restrict bonuses so he can hold them up as a good example to other countries at meetings of the Group of 20 in September.

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  By Estelle Shirbon 
  EVIAN, France, July 6 (Reuters) – France and Britain called for action to curtail oil price volatility on Monday as part of a move towards tougher global governance to prevent a return to economic problems that existed before the financial crisis.   Speaking at a Franco-British summit ahead of a meeting of G8 leaders in Italy this week, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown also said that tax havens should accelerate their reforms towards greater transparency for the good of the world economy. (more…)

 EVIAN, France, July 6 (Reuters) – French President Nicolas Sarkozy warned against a return to the “crazy” pay practices that were current in banks before the financial crisis. “These crazy remuneration levels — the more you speculated, the more you were paid…we won’t accept it,” Sarkozy said in a joint press conference with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown. (more…)