BREAKING NEWS

April 2, 2009

LONDON - Leaders of the G-20 nations agreed Thursday to pump an additional trillion dollars into the troubled global economy through extra funding for groups like the International Monetary Fund.

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Outlining the conclusions of the G-20 summit, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown announced an additional $500 billion for the IMF, plus $250 billion in IMF Special Drawing Rights and $250 billion to boost trade. The world financial body supports countries whose finances have been hard hit by the global slowdown, supporting their currency reserves and banking systems.

On financial regulation — a sticking point ahead of the gathering — two people close to the negotiations earlier told The Associated Press that France and Germany had persuaded the Group of 20 leaders to back tougher language in the final statement on stronger rules to avoid a repeat of the current crisis.

Another official told the AP that the final deal will include proposals making sure companies more tightly link executive salaries to performance, a measure that reflects public outrage about the huge retention payments, bonuses and golden parachutes granted to banking chiefs before the sector collapsed.

Brown: ‘Very high degree of consensus’

Opening the summit in London's east Docklands district, Britain's Brown said there was strong unity among leaders upon the need for action.

"I believe that the text that has been circulated already reflects a very high degree of consensus and agreement between all of us," Brown told his fellow leaders.

British Finance Secretary Stephen Timms said early discussions had been "lively," but added that countries would agree on sanctions against countries who refuse to sign up to new rules on regulating tax havens.

"The era of banking secrecy is over," Timms said.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel have been adamant that the G-20 meeting must take concrete steps to more closely regulate banks, hedge funds and other financial institutions.

President Barack Obama has acknowledged that U.S. regulatory failures contributed to the crisis in the financial system, but urged a focus on solutions, saying "we can only meet this challenge together."

European leaders have balked at moving beyond spending measures already announced, arguing that their more generous welfare systems mean their spending levels will rise anyway as more people get benefits such as unemployment insurance.

As leaders met in the Docklands, a former shipping area on the Thames river that was redeveloped as an international business center, protesters began a second day of demonstrations. Security was tight at the summit venue; hundreds of police manned barriers and checkpoints around the security perimeter.

Demonstrations outside the venue

As Obama and other leaders met in the Docklands, a former shipping area on the Thames river that was redeveloped as an international business center, protesters began a second day of demonstrations. Security was tight at the summit venue; hundreds of police manned barriers and checkpoints around the security perimeter.

French daredevil Alain Robert scaled Lloyds of London's high-rise headquarters as office workers below snapped photos. Robert, dubbed the French spider-man, has scaled dozens of tall structures around the world without ropes or harnesses to draw attention to global warming. He was later led away by police.

Near St. Paul's Cathedral in the financial district, protesters played a giant Monopoly game.

"The question is of course who has got the monopoly? It is fairly obvious the G20 are the global financial elite," said protester Clare Smith, 27. "Meanwhile the poor are getting poorer."

More than 100 people have been arrested.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30004815/