Germany's Merkel calls for tougher finance regulation

Hosting an international conference, Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel pushed for much stricter regulation of international markets which she said must be the "benchmark" within Europe and that all governments must act together in showing greater budget discipline.

The meeting comes ahead of next month's G20 summit in Canada. Germany wants tougher regulation of financial markets and strict penalties for EU nations running high debts.Germany is calling for a global tax on financial transactions to help cover the cost of the crisis.At the conference in Berlin, Mrs Merkel called on all countries at the G20 summit to take action together - even if they had not suffered problems in their own economy.

"If we are to have a global order and global governance we need to have an understanding for each other," she said.

For more: BBC News - Germany's Merkel calls for tougher finance regulation