...

Nicolas Sarkozy wants "concrete results" from G20 summit on tax havens

Other News Materials 1 April 2009 12:16 (UTC +04:00)

French President Nicolas Sarkozy said on Wednesday it was essential that this week's G20 summit in London take concrete steps to sanction uncooperative tax havens, reported dpa.

"It is unacceptable and incomprehensible if concrete regulations cannot be applied in the coming days or weeks" to offshore tax havens that do not share information about their accounts, Sarkozy told Europe 1 radio.

He said that France wanted that "one or several lists of uncooperative tax havens" be drawn up and made public and that, as a result, banks all over the world refuse to do business with countries that protect their tax havens.

Asked what countries were resisting the imposition of such regulations, Sarkozy suggested that China, "because of Macao and Singapore," and perhaps the United States may raise objections.

Sarkozy said he had spoken with German Chancellor Angela Merkel late Tuesday and that both leaders were "on the same wavelength" on the issue.

The French president also said that nothing had yet been agreed in the lengthy negotiations leading to the summit, and that both he and Merkel had rejected a preliminary draft of a final summit statement.

"I will not associate myself with a summit that concludes with a statement of false compromises, which does not deal with the problems that confront us," Sarkozy said.

But he did not repeat a declaration he had reportedly made last month that he would walk out of the summit if it was not producing concrete results.

Latest

Latest