Merkel, Sarkozy Urge G-20 to Limit Bank Size, Bonuses

Source: Bloomberg

Aug. 31 (Bloomberg) -- German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy will press fellow Group of 20 leaders to limit the size of banks, regulate the bonuses they pay out and tighten capital requirements.

Merkel and Sarkozy, at a news conference in Berlin today, said they will outline the joint French-German proposals in a letter to the European Union to help formulate a unified EU position for the G-20 summit in Pittsburgh on Sept. 24-25.

“No bank must grow to a size that puts it in a position in which it can blackmail governments,” Merkel said. “We need agreed international rules on how to ensure this.”

Merkel and Sarkozy, head of the euro region’s No. 1 and No. 2 economies respectively, have sought to present a joint agenda to overcome the global crisis and ensure that there is no repeat. Merkel, running for re-election on Sept. 27, backed Sarkozy last week over what he called “the bonuses scandal.”

Read more: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601100&sid=avHBCSkhGvAk

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more here

Sarkozy, who has been at the forefront of calls for curbs on bonuses, said that G20 leaders in Pittsburgh "will be judged on the basis of their actions not on their words.

"There is now a global public opinion. All over the world, people are sickened by the bonus system," he said.

"In Pittsburgh, France and Germany want things to change, and that the international community understands that the excesses ... that led to this crisis do not re-emerge as though nothing had happened," Sarkozy said.

"We want to bring to an end the scandal of bonuses. We want it to stop."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20090831/bs_afp/financeeconomybankingg20germanyfrance

But I won't hold my breath! It's obvious that the big financial institutions don't give a damn about what the people think, but if other world leaders can get the ball rolling, maybe the U.S. can jump on board and put as top to the madness of these outrageous bonuses being paid to people who have taken this country and the world to the brink of financial collapse! Now business should be to big to fail, and we need to put a stop them getting bigger and bigger and as the article stated, blackmailing governments around the world!

read 'Socialist' is US english

So this will be held up as evidence that the G-20 central bankers & international finance ministers actually care about the masses but, in reality, this earning cap can easily be skirted (even in the unlikely chance that it goes through). This is just a pure distraction from everything that these people have been doing to funnel wealth to the wealthiest while hundreds of millions go hungry around the globe, wars rage, and the environment is laid to waste due to their corrupt management. These people make the robber barons of old look like magnanimous humanitarians but they've got the plebes more fooled than ever. It's an absolutely disgusting and ridiculous farce that these people could have any sort of popular support whatsoever. The central bank governors and international finance ministers will be meeting in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania on Sept 24-25, 2009 and there has never been a collection of villains more worthy of protest. There needs to be an international general strike to get these people out of power and to fundamentally reorganize the system. And there is still time to make this happen! Organize locally! Write letters to the editor, post to forums, tweet, and call in to your local talk shows. Do not let the corporate media define this protest! http://protestg20.blogspot.com
@NihiloZero #g20 #protest #international #generalstrike

This isn't about power to the People, but power to the Government. Still, it's a start. The Magna Carta eventually trickled down to the common man.

They are certainly brighter and more civic-minded than most of the trash we have.

The future of the dollar as the international currency (good or bad) depends on the opinions of these two individuals and their countries. They are two of our last allies on economic issues. We had better listen to their warning.

Why do I say they are two of our last allies on economic or at least on dollar issues? Because Venezuela, China, Russia and a number of other countries have already stated that they want an international-trade currency other than the dollar, perhaps a basket of currencies.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aR7yfqUwTb4M

I reckon, as the international currency. It should be able to hang on as one among several, though.

are important because they are our allies and will be deciding what happens to our economy after the dollar fails as the currency of international trade.

Next to Popeye, with a more Humphrey Bogart kind of look.