GERMANY: The finance minister of the G7 states started the second and final day of their meeting in Essen with a hearty breakfast

More transparency in high-risk finance-funds and a debate about exchange rates are the focus of the second day of the G7 meeting in Essen. The conference continued on Saturday (February 10) morning with a traditional breakfast at the villa "Huegel", the venue of the meeting. The G7 talks, which began with a champagne reception and dinner on Friday (February 9), include ministers and central bankers from the United States, Japan, Germany, France, Britain, Italy and Canada. The G7 meeting has also scheduled talks on hedge fund transparency, and systemic risks funds. Loosely policed hedge funds which have become a powerful market force, originally catering to the ultra-rich but concern is mounting about increasing links to mainstream banks, mainstays of the global financial system. Their assets have doubled in the United States to more than $1.3 trillion in the last five years.

ITN Source | February 10, 2007

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