Sarkozy, Merkel praise Obama's G20 role
LONDON (MarketWatch) -- They may have frustrated his plans for boosting global stimulus spending, but both French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel were careful to praise President Barack Obama's role in Thursday's economic summit.
Both credited the new U.S. president with helping to break a banking-secrecy logjam over tax havens and the release of a blacklist of non-compliant jurisdictions.
Group of 20 leaders highlighted the release as one of the major accomplishments of the London meeting, and they promised unspecified sanctions would be taken against tax havens that did not agree to share tax information.
"President Obama really found the consensus," Sarkozy told reporters after the meeting. "He didn't focus exclusively on stimulus ... In fact it was he who managed to help me persuade [Chinese] President Hu Jintao to agree to the reference to the ... publication of a list of tax havens, and I wish to thank him for that."
In her news conference, Merkel noted that "the American president also put his hand into this."
The warm words followed weeks of sharp divisions between the U.S. and the United Kingdom, on one side, and France and Germany on the other, over whether to increase government spending to help kick start the global economy.
French and German reluctance ultimately prevailed, and the summit produced only limited promises to do "whatever is necessary," in terms of fiscal stimulus.
Release of the tax haven list is expected to help pressure those nations to cooperate with other nations' tax authorities.
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Both credited the new U.S. president with helping to break a banking-secrecy logjam over tax havens and the release of a blacklist of non-compliant jurisdictions.
Group of 20 leaders highlighted the release as one of the major accomplishments of the London meeting, and they promised unspecified sanctions would be taken against tax havens that did not agree to share tax information.
"President Obama really found the consensus," Sarkozy told reporters after the meeting. "He didn't focus exclusively on stimulus ... In fact it was he who managed to help me persuade [Chinese] President Hu Jintao to agree to the reference to the ... publication of a list of tax havens, and I wish to thank him for that."
In her news conference, Merkel noted that "the American president also put his hand into this."
The warm words followed weeks of sharp divisions between the U.S. and the United Kingdom, on one side, and France and Germany on the other, over whether to increase government spending to help kick start the global economy.
French and German reluctance ultimately prevailed, and the summit produced only limited promises to do "whatever is necessary," in terms of fiscal stimulus.
Release of the tax haven list is expected to help pressure those nations to cooperate with other nations' tax authorities.
source