Eric Reguly's Mark Carney story will be updated at this link.

"G20 looks more in the future like a group of shifting coalitions, because BRICs countries diverge" - Victoria Panova, Moscow State Inst.

(I'm attending John Kirton's G20 Research Group briefing in Cannes)

For Sarko, the Greek crisis overshadowed all other French priorities, notably transaction tax - Krystel Montpetit/ U of T

Montpetit says Sarko says he reached "a common ground" with Obama on transaction tax... not clear what this means.

Montpetit: Today, Sarko will be pushing everyone to move toward global currency balance... including Asian currencies in SDR basket.

Lesage: But I'm optimistic, because the G20 has shown it can work as an instrument of crisis management.

Lesage: Substantially, the IMF is going to play a larger role in Europe, and Europe has ended its resistance to more funding for the IMF

Mabruk Kabir, U of T: We're expecting an initiative to get cost of sending remittances abroad down from 10% to 5% maximum.

Greece is dominating the G20, but deals are getting done: From Associated Press in Cannes — The United States, China, Germany and other major rich and emerging economies have pledged to fight cross-border tax evasion under an agreement approved Friday, which supporters say could raise tens of billions of dollars at a time when indebted European nations are scrambling for more revenue.

.....The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, which developed the agreement with the Council of Europe, has pointed to estimates that the United States loses $100 billion a year and Greece $30 billion to tax evasion.

....An OECD study in 20 countries found that increased co-operation meant the campaign against use of tax havens prompted 100,000 wealthy taxpayers to disclose assets and pay $14 billion in taxes. The OECD says an estimated $1-trillion in assets still is hidden from tax authorities.

Re G20 candy... See also diabetic coma. @blakehounshell: @DougSaunders new message: it'll rot your teeth

From Eric Reguly in Cannes
Bill Downe, CEO of Bank of Montreal, zaps out first official congrats to Mark Carney, who was just appointed head of the Financial Stability Board at the G20 summit in Canada. He called him the "right person at the right time" but noted that Mr. Carney, who is and will remain as governor of the Bank of Canada, faces a lot of challenges in the new job. "The banking sectors in many countries need to build capital," said Mr. Downe, "but it is critical that the new standards be applied evenly and consistently. We must have a level playing field."

IMF puts Berlusconi on a leash, from Reuters:
"Italy, under fierce pressure from financial markets and European peers, agreed to have the IMF monitor its progress with long delayed reforms of pensions, labour markets and privatisation, senior EU sources said on Friday.

Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, his government close to collapse, agreed to the step in late-night talks with euro zone leaders and U.S. President Barack Obama on the sidelines of a G20 summit in Cannes."

Some French are upset that the security budget for this G20 is reputedly €40-million. Big contrast to $1.2-billion for Toronto's 2010 G20!

Mark Carney not doing any interviews today on his appointment to Financial Stability Board, his PR guy says. Too bad.

Here's a post on the contents of the draft communique from @ITVLauraK is.gd

G20 draft says "Italy commits to reaching a rapidly declining debt-to-GDP ratio starting in 2012 and a close to a balanced budget by 2013."

Re Italy's G20 debt pledge. Big deal -- at the EU summit on Oct. 26, Italy had already agreed to balance its budget in 2013.

HERE is the text of the draft communique, courtesy Reuters

(Reuters) - The following are excerpts from a draft final declaration of a G20 summit in Cannes.

ON THE GLOBAL ECONOMY

Since our last meeting, global recovery has weakened, particularly in advanced countries, leaving unemployment at unacceptable levels. Tensions in the financial markets have increased due mostly to sovereign risks in Europe. Signs of vulnerabilities are appearing in emerging markets. Increased commodity prices have harmed growth and hit the most vulnerable. Exchange rate volatility creates a risk to growth and financial stability. Global imbalances persist. Today, we reaffirm our commitment to work together and we have taken decisions to reinvigorate economic growth, create jobs, ensure financial stability, promote social inclusion and make globalization serve the needs of our people.

ON EMPLOYMENT AND SOCIAL PROTECTION

We are committed to renew our efforts to combat unemployment and promote decent jobs, especially for youth and others who have been most affected by the economic crisis. We therefore decide to set up a G20 Task-Force on Employment, with a focus on youth employment, that will provide input to the G20 Labor and Employment Ministerial Meeting to be held under the Mexican Presidency in 2012.

ON THE INTERNATIONAL MONETARY SYSTEM

In 2010, the G20 committed to working towards a more stable and resilient IMS and to ensure systemic stability in the global economy, improve the global economic adjustment, as well as an appropriate transition towards an IMS which better reflects the increased weight of emerging market economies. In 2011, we are taking concrete steps to achieve these goals.

CAPITAL CONTROLS

We agreed on coherent conclusions to guide us in the management of capital flows drawing on country experiences, in order to reap the benefits from financial globalization, while preventing and managing risks that could undermine financial stability and sustainable growth at the national and global levels.
To pursue these objectives, we adopted an action plan to support the development and deepening of local currency bond markets, scaling up technical assistance from different international institutions, improving the data base and preparing joint annual progress reports to the G20

SDR

We agreed that the SDR basket composition should continue to reflect the role of currencies in the global trading and financial system and be adjusted over time to reflect currencies' changing role and characteristics. The SDR composition assessment should be based on existing criteria, and we ask the IMF to further clarify them. A broader SDR basket will be an important determinant of its attractiveness, and in turn influence its role as a global reserve asset. This will serve as a reference for appropriate reforms. We look forward to reviewing the composition of the SDR basket in 2015, and earlier if warranted, as currencies meet the criteria, and call for further analytical work of the IMF in this regard, including on potential evolution. We will continue our work on the role of the SDR.

GLOBAL SAFETY NETS

As a contribution to a more structured approach, we agreed to further strengthen global financial safety nets. In which national governments, central banks, regional financial arrangements and international financial institutions will each play a role according to and within their respective mandate. We agreed to continue these efforts to this end. We recognize that central banks play a major role in addressing liquidity shocks at a global and regional level, as shown by the recent improvements in regional swap lines such as in East Asia. We agreed on common principles for cooperation between the IMF and Regional Financial Arrangements, which will strengthen crisis prevention and resolution efforts.

LIQUIDITY MEASURES

As a contribution to this structured approach and building on existing instruments and facilities, we support the IMF in putting forward the new Precautionary and Liquidity Line (PLL) and call on the IMF to expeditiously finalize it. This would enable the provision, on a case by case basis, of increased and more flexible short-term liquidity to countries with strong policies and fundamentals facing exogenous, including systemic, shocks. We also support the IMF proposal to put in place a single emergency facility to provide non-concessional financing for emergency needs such as natural disasters, emergency situations in fragile and post-conflict states, and also other disruptive events.

IMF SURVEILLANCE

We call on the IMF to regularly monitor cross-border capital flows and their transmission channels and update capital flow management measures applied by countries. We also call on the IMF to continue its work on drivers and metrics of reserve accumulation taking into account country circumstances, and, along with the BIS, their work on global liquidity indicators, with a view to future incorporation in the IMF surveillance and other monitoring processes, on the basis of reliable indicators. We will avoid persistent exchange rate misalignments and we asked the IMF to continue to improve its assessment of exchange rates and to publish its assessments as appropriate.

BANKS

We are committed to improve banks' resilience to financial and economic shocks. Building on progress made to date, we call on jurisdictions to meet their commitment to implement fully and consistently the Basel II risk-based framework as well as the Basel II-5 additional requirements on market activities and securitization by end 2011 and the Basel III capital and liquidity standards, while respecting observation periods and review clauses, starting in 2013 and completing full implementation by 1 January 2019.
Reforming the over the counter derivatives markets is crucial to build a more resilient financial system. All standardized over-the-counter derivatives contracts should be traded on exchanges or electronic trading platforms, where appropriate, and centrally cleared, by the end of 2012; OTC derivatives contracts should be reported to trade repositories, and non- centrally cleared contracts should be subject to higher capital requirements. We agree to cooperate further to avoid loopholes and overlapping regulations. A coordination group is being established by the FSB to address some of these issues, complementing the existing OTC derivatives working group.

CREDIT RATINGS

We reaffirm our commitment to reduce authorities' and financial institutions' reliance on external credit ratings, and call on standard setters, market participants, supervisors and central banks to implement the agreed FSB principles and end practices that rely mechanistically on these ratings. We ask the FSB to report to our Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors at their February meeting on progress made in this area by standard setters and jurisdictions against these principles.

TOO BIG TO FAIL

We are determined to make sure that no financial firm is "too big to fail" and that taxpayers should not bear the costs of resolution. To this end, we endorse the FSB comprehensive policy framework, comprising a new international standard for resolution regimes, more intensive and effective supervision, and requirements for cross-border cooperation and recovery and resolution planning as well as, from 2016, additional loss absorbency for those banks determined as global systematically important financial institutions (G-SIFIs). The FSB publishes today an initial list of G-SIFIs, to be updated each year in November. WC will implement the FSB standards and recommendations within the agreed timelines and commit to undertake the necessary legislative changes, step up cooperation amongst authorities and strengthen supervisory mandates and powers.

SHADOW BANKING SYSTEM

The shadow banking system can create opportunities for regulatory arbitrage and cause the build-up of systemic risk outside the scope of the regulated banking sector. To this end, we agree to strengthen the regulation and oversight of the shadow banking system and endorse the FSB initial eleven recommendations with a work-plan to further develop them in the course of 2012, building on a balanced approach between indirect regulation of shadow banking through banks and direct regulation of shadow banking activities, including money markets funds, securitization, securities lending and repo activities, and other shadow banking entities.

CDS, MARKETS

We commit to implement initial recommendations by IOSCO on market integrity and efficiency, including measures to address the risks posed by high frequency trading and dark liquidity, and call for further work by mid-2012. We also call on IOSCO to assess the functioning of credit default swap (CDS) markets and the role of those markets in price formation of underlying assets by our next Summit.

MEASURES TO STRENGTHEN FSB, INCLUDING:

-- the establishment of the FSB on an enduring organizational footing: we have given the FSB a strong political mandate and need to give it a corresponding institutional standing, with legal personality and greater financial autonomy, while preserving the existing and well-functioning strong links with the BIS;
the reconstitution of the steering committee: as we move into a phase of policy development and implementation that in many cases will require significant legislative changes, we agree that the upcoming changes to the FSB steering committee should include the executive branch of governments of the G20 Chair and the larger financial systems as well as the geographic regions and financial centers not currently represented, in a balanced manner consistent with the FSB Charter;
We reaffirm that climate finance will come from a wide variety of sources, public and private, bilateral and multilateral, including innovative sources of finance. We recognize the role of public finance and public policy in supporting climate-related investments in developing countries. We underline the role of the private sector in supporting climate- related investments globally, particularly through various market-based mechanisms and also call on the MDBs to develop new and innovative financial instruments to increase their leveraging effect on private flows.

NATIONAL SOCIAL PROTECTION MEASURES

Recognizing that economic shocks affect disproportionately the most vulnerable, we commit to ensure a more inclusive and resilient growth. WC therefore decide to support the implementation and expansion of nationally-designed social protection floors in developing countries, especially low income countries. We will work to reduce the average cost of transferring remittances from 10% to 5% by 2014, contributing to release an additional 15 billion USI) per year for recipient families.

Germany in trouble: Factory orders collapsed in September, dropping 4.3% month on month, biggest monthly fall since January 2009.