Something has to be done though it's highly doubtful the G20 or even the US and EU are going to work out anything together. Would a second dip change anything? It would be comforting to think so but that's probably not going to happen either. Lots of talking though by officials but remember that in Europe, London is the place. France is a much smaller bankers town so of course the talk is bigger. Until London moves from talk to serious action, even within Europe there won't be much change. Right now it is both the US and UK who are the primary obstacles as they have been the primary leaders in this sector.
France's finance minister, Christine Lagarde, in London for tomorrow's meeting of top finance officials from the G20 leading countries, said: "Governments are responsible to the people, not to the City. The City cannot be above the rules."Or at least talk about it and then tell others about how much he talked.
She said she was pleased with the publicity given today to the joint letter from French president Nicolas Sarkozy, German chancellor Angela Merkel and Gordon Brown which pledged to explore ways to control excess bonuses in the financial sector.
"That augurs well for a rapprochement," she said. "This is a key moment. We cannot allow a return to business as usual. The public across Europe have been flabbergasted, horrified at the amount of compensation paid to traders in financial markets when only eight months ago they were asking for public money."
Lagarde stressed France was determined to push through action at international level to restrict bonuses in spite of a lack of keenness on the part of the United States and Britain. "You can rely on President Sarkozy to push this through," she said.
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