Geithner hails era of ‘global economic cooperation’ in Italy

Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner hailed a new “period of global economic cooperation” during a financial ministerial meeting on Saturday, pushing his counterparts to further coordinate their economic strategies.

“This has been a remarkable period of global economic cooperation — with a common strategy, more effectively applied — than we have seen in any of the crises of the past few decades,” in remarks at the meeting of G-8 finance ministers in Leece, Italy this weekend.

Geithner encouraged the other countries to greater coordinate their policies to stem what he called “acute challenges” that still remain on the horizon. He said that would include proposals in the U.S. and in the other countries to strengthen their regulatory regimes.

“We need to reinforce the improvement in global demand and continue to lay a foundation for a durable recovery,” Geithner said. “It is too early to shift toward policy restraint.”

“Next week, we will outline comprehensive proposals for regulatory reform in the United States,” the Treasury secretary added. “Because risk does not respect borders, we will put forward several international proposals in our reform package that will help to raise standards globally.”

He said the U.S. proposals would include new regulations on capital requirements for banks, as well as new resolution authority for failed banks that span borders.