November 15, 2008

World leaders at an emergency economic summit are moving to sharpen detection of risky investing and regulatory weak spots, hoping to avoid future financial meltdowns like the one now threatening the global economy. In the largest gathering of its kind here in nearly a decade, President George W. Bush and some two dozen foreign leaders were to meet Saturday behind closed doors as they prepared to adopt an action plan for more openness in financial markets and an early warning system for problems like the speculation frenzy that fed the U.S. housing bubble.
"The stakes are indeed high," Bush said Friday. "Billions of hardworking people are counting on us to strengthen the financial system for the long term.” Behind the urgent rhetoric, the steps taking shape were modest. The action plan would include measures aimed at making the global financial system more accountable to investors and more transparent to regulators, diplomatic officials said. It also would improve international monitoring of markets and bolster rules governing how companies value their assets, a current weakness seen as partly responsible for the financial crisis at hand. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because leaders had yet to agree on their final communiqué.