No decisions at G20?

The Toronto G20 summit should not be about regulation, but just for stock taking, said Tiff
Macklem, Canadian secretary of state for finance, at the Berlin informal preparatory meeting
for the Toronto summit.

Macklem furthermore said, that the Canadian banks were not in crisis and that he would not
only see no necessity for the the FTT but even not for a bank levy.

The South Korean representative, too, was voicing scepticism vis à vis regulation by playing
the Southern card: emerging countries interests would not be taken into account sufficiently in
the whole discussion, he said.

This means that the hosts of the next two G20 summits are hard headed defenders of the
finance industry and we have to prepare for that.

German chancellor Merkel critisized the Canadian statement and complained that "national
egoism" of countries, which were less affected by the crisis would block a contribution of the
finance industry to the costs of the crisis (Financial Times Germany 21.05.2010).

The Berlin conference took place in a dramatic situation, when there were in Europe and
particularly in Germany heated discussions about regulating financial markets. As a response
to the Greek and Euro crisis the German parliament adopted today the 750 bn. safety net for
the Euro. Both Merkel and finance minister Schäuble promised to advocate the FTT in the
G20 and the EU.

This is a response to the very strong pressure in German society to make finance contribute.

However, at the same time Schäuble raised doubts about the political feasibility. In a today's
interview at Deutschlandradio he said on the FTT: "We want this, but it only works
globally. ... does it make sense to introduce it in Europe only, with the risk that the entire
financial turnover is shifted to America, Singapur, Shanghai, Hongkong or wherever. First of
all we'll focus to establish it at global level. But I say once again: the chances are clearly
lower than 100 percent."

The Berlin conference was less prominent than expected. Except for Barnier (EU
Commissioner), there were only second or third rank officials. Even French finance minister
Christine Lagarde was only present per video message.

The German alliance for the FTT made yesterday a stunt action at the Brandenburger Tor in
Berlin, which received a broad and positive media response. A carriage with bankers and 750
bn. Euro on board was robbed by Robin Hood and his fellows and the money was distributed
to the people. A videos of the action can be seen on YouTube at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iONeHAOpzQI&feature=player_embedded

Best

Peter Wahl
WEED - Weltwirtschaft, Ökologie & Entwicklung
Eldenaer Str. 60, 10247 Berlin
Tel: +49-(0)30-2758 2616