Japan's Hatoyama welcomes G20 regulation debate

[Coventina]

Source: Reuters

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's next leader, Yukio Hatoyama said on Friday the fact that the Group of 20 finance ministers meeting in London this weekend will discuss financial regulation was a sign the world is reflecting on the excesses of market fundamentalism.

A financial regulatory debate ahead of the September 4-5 meeting has been dominated by European moves to seek consensus on limiting bank bonuses and by a U.S. push for tougher bank capital standards.

Hatoyama, who's Democratic Party of Japan won Sunday's national election by a landslide, stressed that financial regulation must be balanced with the need to maintain market functions.

"We can't say regulation is better when it is uniformly strong," Hatoyama said at an event in Tokyo for the World Economic Forum. "What's needed is a balance between regulation by the government and markets."



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