Global banks urge G20 over supervision

Global reform of supervisory standards should be at the centre of G20 summits with "no tolerance" for jurisdictions that make an insufficient effort to improve.

The International Institute of Finance argues that the banking industry is "prepared to meet" the significant new costs that this will create and is keen to work out a code of best practice to foster the best quality of supervision on its firms.

G-20 and food prices

The G-20 will have to ensure there is free trade, without which prices will not come under control.

It is a pity that it took the G-20 — which accounts for 65 per cent of farmland in the world and 77 per cent of foodgrain production — so long to address the issue of surging food prices. Despite the long-standing nature of the problem, it was only two weeks ago that G-20 farm ministers agreed to set limits on export bans and create a crop database in a bid to tackle rising food prices. The agreement included a call for international market regulation, higher farm production and the development of a proposal for emergency food reserves. There can be no denying the G-20's complacency in addressing an issue as important as this. In February, an index of prices of 55 food commodities climbed to a record 238 (base period 2002-04) and it took the G-20 this long to wake up. Around the same time, the World Bank President, Mr Robert Zoellick, said that the elevated food prices had pushed 44 million people into poverty since June 2010, and that another 10 million could be added to the list if the index rose another 10 per cent. The World Bank has estimated that nations will spend $1.29 trillion on food imports this year, the highest ever, and 21 per cent more than last year. The Food and Agriculture Organisation, on its part, has been expressing concern over surging food prices since June 2010.

G8 'neglecting hunger fight pledge'

G8 leaders have been accused of neglecting a pledge to fight hunger in poor countries.

Anti-poverty group ONE said the drought crisis in east Africa is a "wake-up call" to Governments who pledged to help feed the hungry in Africa two years ago.

A spokeswoman from the group said leaders of the rich world meeting at the G8 summit in Italy in 2009 pledged 22 billion US dollars (£13.7 billion) to go towards agricultural projects designed to put Africa on the road towards food self-sufficiency, rather than on emergency aid during famines and disasters.

Public inquiry needed into police bully tactics at the G20

Toronto Police Chief Bill Blair just doesn't get it. Perhaps Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty get it, but they either don't care or would rather it just go away.

But what's even more concerning is that it's clear police officers -- not just in Toronto, but everywhere in Canada -- don't get it either: how the transgressions, abuses, thuggery directed at peaceful demonstrators and innocent bystanders alike at the G20 Summit a year ago and their ridiculously misplaced code of silence to protect each other from prosecution has impacted the public's perception of them.

ECB's Draghi: G20 Should Be Able To Manage Legacy Of Crisis

AIX-EN-PROVENCE, France (MNI) - Foreign exchange rate tensions and conflicts among national policies can best be countered by pursuing the international cooperation set up during the crisis, European Central Bank Governing Council member Mario Draghi said Friday.

Introducing the topic "Currency Wars" for a round table here, the governor of the Bank of Italy hesitated to use a phrase evocative of "disasters" but acknowledged the "reality" of national monetary policies that create undesirable spillovers.

Analysis: French G20 commodity rule hope may prove forlorn

France's push to get the world's leading economies to toughen regulation on commodity markets may prove to be like herding cats as most governments see little benefit in new rules that could harm their financial interests.

Many say improving market transparency and raising food production is the way to tackle price volatility and few expect last month's call by G20 farm ministers for regulation to bring coordinated hard action among the Group of 20 leading economies.

G-20 offers solutions to cool food prices

We are becoming more selfish, not less. As food, fuel and fibre become increasingly expensive it's every country for itself. That's why the prescription for global food security by the G-20 , a group of 20 nations including India, is so odd. It completely ignores reality. G-20 has offered five solutions to cool food prices. First, increase production and yields on the millions of small farms in developing nations.