MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Germany partly blames US and UK for financial turmoil

German chancellor Angela Merkel

German chancellor Angela Merkel said that the United States and British governments are partly responsible for the current international financial crisis for having supported markets' resistance to be submitted to voluntary regulations.

In an interview published Monday in a Bavarian newspaper Ms Merkel criticized financial markets adding that disappointingly they resisted too long in accepting voluntary regulations, taking advantage of the open support from US and the UK. "That was regrettable, but has changed in the meantime'' said Merkel insisting that "I criticize the markets' assumption that they're in the right. Sadly -- backed by the governments in Great Britain and the US -- they've resisted voluntary regulation. I strongly advocate that we use the latest crisis to draw the necessary conclusions''. She insisted that it's necessary to arrive to correct conclusions and search for greater transparency in financial markets, "besides domestic regulations, we need more international agreements against irresponsible speculation". Economic players "must accept" rules on strengthening the independence of ratings companies, greater transparency in financial markets and accepting that high-risk products entail big risks, Merkel said, underlining that such steps don't necessarily require new laws. The interview was followed by Germany's Finance minister Peer Steinbrueck announcement that Germany won't join the US bank- rescue program and underlined that German proposals to bolster market transparency might have mitigated the need for such measures. The US program is "very important to regain the stability and above all trust in financial markets" Steinbrueck told reporters on Monday in Berlin. "Yet the US situation is not comparable to Germany's. Germany won't adopt a comparable program. Germany's banking system, based on the three-pillar model, is stable. None of the other six G-7 members will adopt a similar program to the US". Steinbrueck's comments came as government ministers from Germany's all three coalition parties stressed the differences between Germany and the US in the wake of market turmoil that prompted US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson 700 billion US dollars "mother of all" rescue packages. Economy Minister Michael Glos, a member of the Christian Social Union, the Bavarian coalition partner to Merkel's Christian Democrats, said the root causes of the situation were "specifically a US problem". He added that "everyone should keep his own house in order". But he also sounded a note of optimism when he said that the "Anglo-Saxons are now moving our way". (Germans refer to US-UK financial policies as Anglo-Saxon). Steinbrueck and Glos said that transparency measures "are not new; they were spelled out at the G-7 meeting in Heiligendamm'' during Germany's presidency last year of the Group of Eight leading nations.