Japan, China, SKorea to set up financial watchdog

Thursday, 23 October 2008 10:34 WIB
WASPADA ONLINETOKYO - Japan, China and South Korea will set up an Asian watchdog body to monitor the health of financial institutions in a bid to counter global economic chaos, reports said Wednesday.They hope to have the first meeting in Tokyo next month and also invite other Asian nations including the 10 members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the Yomiuri Shimbun said.It would serve as a regional version of the Financial Stability Forum, a panel that advises the Group of Seven major economies and exchanges information among them, Kyodo News said, quoting unnamed sources.Japan also hopes the meeting would discuss enhancing controls on the financial system, Kyodo said.The move came as US and European leaders called for an emergency summit in November to discuss ways to restore the battered global financial sector.Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso is also sounding out whether the South Korean and Chinese leaders can travel to Japan by the end of the year for an inaugural three-way summit to tighten their relations.Japanese government officials declined to comment on the reports.(lnd/ann)