In a Lonely Place

The G20 nations represent more than 80% of the world economy and 5 of its members: Australia, China, Indonesia, Japan and South Korea come from the Asia Pacific region. Several others Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey, India, Russia are outside Europe and the Americas.Since the April G20 meeting in London there has been a variable amount of activity globally. Europe has been hyperactive whilst the US has talked a lot but proposed little. From Asia Pacific there has been no visible response. Whilst many Asian nations did not suffer the banking failures seen in the West, and therefore can be confident their internal structures are strong, through the G20 summit they did sign up for a new global regulatory architecture. In ancient times all roads led to Rome now they go to Basel, home of the newly strengthened Financial Stability Board (FSB). Basel ironically is in Switzerland - which isnt a G20 nation!To function effectively as the global watchdog, the FSB will need substantial input from Asia. A global risk warning system is of very limited value if it omits date from Asia. Data collected nationally or regionally has to flow up to the FSB. This is often referred to as the micro to macro process. It doesnt seem practical for the Asian nations to implement these mechanisms unilaterally. Financial institutions working cross-border are surely right to expect some regional cooperation.