President Nicolas Sarkozy of France is to urge his European Union counterparts to back changes to accounting rules and give banks and insurers some breathing space amid the market turmoil.
Mr Sarkozy seeks agreement to fresh regulations including changes to the mark-to-market accounting rules that have been blamed for aggravating the crisis.
Mr Sarkozy is seeking to give political momentum to EU efforts to tighten financial market rules after France became the latest European government on Tuesday to use public money – €3bn ($4.21bn, £2.37bn) of it – to bail out Dexia, the Belgo-French banking group. The president called a “crisis meeting” of French banks and insurers on Tuesday to discuss the financial turmoil.
The Elysée said it would unveil measures this week intended to ensure banks did not choke off credit to the rest of the economy.
Mr Sarkozy had hoped to hammer out a common European position on regulation at a summit hastily convened in Paris for Friday with his German, British and Italian counterparts, as well as the presidents of the European Commission and European Central Bank. However, the meeting might have to be delayed because of conflicting schedules.
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