More rules for economy

by S. C.

Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Itaian Minister of Economy Tremonti returned to the idea of a 'legal standard', which he launched at the start of the year when Rome became G8 president. ''More regulation, rather than more capital, is the only way out of this financial anarchy,'' said the minister.

''We need more rules and more coordination''. The minister has discussed his idea of a new ''legal standard'' on several occasions. It would comprise a series of rules and guidelines, mainly based on existing agreements under the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development.

The minister has suggested that voluntary and binding codes would be monitored through tools such as peer review, naming and shaming, and black listing.

According to Italy's website for the G8 presidency, Rome ''plans to put forward a proposal for the establishment of an international ethical legal standard with which all countries will be bound to comply. ''Such a method will make it possible to establish as convergent a network as possible of legal systems governing financial affairs, in order to safeguard savers and citizens''.

But Tremonti also stressed Italy's commitment to liaising between the world's eight richest nations and the Group of 20, which includes leading developing nations. ''The G8 is honestly too small, although the G20 is still too unbalanced, for example between Africa and Latin America,'' Tremonti said. ''Our plan is to cooperate with the G20''.

The G20 comprises the G8 plus Saudi Arabia, Argentina, Australia, Brazil, China, South Korea, India, Indonesia, Mexico, South Africa, Turkey and the European Union. The minister made his remarks two weeks ahead of a Rome meeting of finance ministers and central bankers from the world's seven richest economies.

Britain will host the second G20 summit in spring, while the G8 meeting will take place on the Sardinian island of La Maddalena in July.