G8 plans financial reform summit
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The move follows calls by Gordon Brown to reform the IMF. (Reuters: Peter Byrne, file photo)
The leaders of the G8 major industrialised nations have agreed to hold a summit to discuss global financial reform and to restart world trade talks that were abandoned earlier this year.
In a joint statement the G8 leaders say that changes have to be made to the regulatory and institutional regimes for the world's financial systems to fix shortcomings exposed by the current crisis.
They have also agreed to reopen world trade negotiations that collapsed earlier this year.
The move follows a call by Britain's Prime Minister Gordon Brown, to rebuild the International Monetary Fund to help regulate the world's financial systems.
He also called for the creation of an early warning system for the international economy and for more cross-border supervision of multinational financial companies.
The summit is expected to be held in the next few weeks.
Meanwhile, European Union leaders have begun a two-day summit in Brussels, focusing on the plan adopted by Britain and the 15 countries that use the Euro to shore up struggling banks.
The EU leaders are pushing for a complete overhaul of the global finance system.
The current EU chairman, French President Nicolas Sarkozy, told the summit a global solution is needed to address the financial crisis.
