LONDON, March 27 (Global Risk Regulator) – As expected, a two-day Anglo-French summit in London ended today with agreement on the need for greater transparency in financial markets to ensure that banks fully disclose the scale of write-offs resulting from the current financial turmoil.

MADRID, March 26 (Global Risk Regulator) – The world’s stock market regulators are proposing ways to improve the quality and integrity of the work of credit rating agencies, the firms widely blamed for not flagging timely warnings that the credit crunch was on its way.

Four official reports on the causes of prolonged market turmoil spread the blame widely, and point to more regulatory intervention By Melvyn Westlake

Tokyo is sliding as a global financial hub. An ambitious new plan that includes principles-based regulation aims to restore its position By Melvyn Westlake

New default rules may lead to big hike in trading book capital requirements. Talks wanted with regulators over impact study By Melvyn Westlake

Bringing bonds and derivatives into the clearing and settlement Code of Conduct is being explored. Pros and antis are lining up By Oonagh Leighton

Bank critics of fair value accounting say it makes the crisis worse. Advocates argue it gives necessary transparency by David Keefe

Global accounting rule-makers, responding to insurance industry opposition to their preliminary ideas on applying fair value to insurance contracts, are looking at so-called settlement value as an alternative approach to solving one of thorniest problems in accounting. The problem stems from the lack of a liquid secondary market in insurance policies, which form the bulk of insurance company liabilities, on which to base a current-value measurement of the policies, say insiders.

LONDON – Global banking regulators remain split over whether an international leverage ratio for bank capital would provide a simple but effective tool for making the world’s financial system more robust following the present credit crunch turmoil.

LONDON – Britain’s principal financial watchdog, widely criticised for failing to spot the Northern Rock bank disaster in a timely fashion, has created a new prudential risk division to monitor bank risk management systems and policies.