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| London Summit (2009) | |
|---|---|
| Name | London Summit (2009) |
| Date | 2–3 April 2009 |
| City | London |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Participants | G20 leaders, heads of state, heads of government |
| Chair | Gordon Brown |
| Follows | 2008 G20 Washington summit |
| Precedes | 2009 G20 Pittsburgh summit |
London Summit (2009)
The London Summit (2009) was a meeting of leaders of G20 economies convened in London on 2–3 April 2009 to coordinate an international response to the 2007–2008 financial crisis and the global downturn. Hosted by Gordon Brown, the summit brought together heads of state and heads of government from major developed and emerging powers, representatives from European Union, International Monetary Fund, World Bank, and other international institutions to agree on financial stabilization, fiscal stimulus, and reforms of financial regulation.
In the wake of the Lehman Brothers collapse and the intensification of the 2007–2008 financial crisis, prior gatherings including the 2008 G20 Washington summit and emergency meetings of G7 and G8 had failed to deliver a unified framework for recovery. The summit followed interventions by central banks such as the Federal Reserve, European Central Bank, Bank of England, and Bank of Japan, alongside fiscal measures enacted by administrations including Barack Obama, Angela Merkel, Nicolas Sarkozy, Stephen Harper, Kevin Rudd, and Manmohan Singh. Pressure from markets including the New York Stock Exchange, London Stock Exchange Group, and sovereign actors like People's Bank of China shaped the agenda.
Primary objectives included stabilizing credit markets, stimulating output across OECD and non-OECD members, restoring confidence among institutions such as the IMF and World Bank, and reforming oversight mechanisms including the Financial Stability Forum. Proposals under consideration drew on policy ideas advanced by Timothy Geithner, Henry Paulson, Mervyn King, Jean-Claude Trichet, Willem Buiter, and academics linked to Harvard University, London School of Economics, and University of Chicago. The summit sought commitments on fiscal stimulus packages comparable to measures by United States Department of the Treasury, HM Treasury, Bundesministerium der Finanzen, and ministries in Canada, Australia, India, and China.
Leaders attending included Barack Obama (United States), Gordon Brown (United Kingdom), Nicolas Sarkozy (France), Angela Merkel (Germany), Silvio Berlusconi (Italy), Stephen Harper (Canada), Vladimir Putin (then Prime Minister of Russia), Dmitry Medvedev (then President of Russia), Manmohan Singh (India), Kevin Rudd (Australia), Hu Jintao (China), Shinzo Abe (Japan), Sebastián Piñera (observer roles similar to regional leaders), and representatives from the European Commission such as José Manuel Barroso. International organizations present included IMF Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn, Robert Zoellick of the World Bank, and chairs from the Financial Stability Forum, OECD, and Bank for International Settlements.
Leaders endorsed a coordinated stimulus to counter declining demand and agreed on recapitalization principles for distressed banks, coordination of monetary policy interventions, and measures to support trade through institutions like the World Trade Organization. A landmark decision was to strengthen the International Monetary Fund by boosting its resources and lending capacity, and to reform the Financial Stability Forum into a broader Financial Stability Board with enhanced mandate and membership including emerging economies. Commitments also addressed transparency standards for sovereign wealth funds and steps to end practices that led to excessive risk-taking in institutions such as investment banks and large commercial banks like Citigroup and Bank of America.
Participants committed to aggregate fiscal and monetary actions including stimulus packages and bank recapitalizations drawing on national instruments such as Troubled Asset Relief Program-style mechanisms, quantitative easing programs by central banks, and coordinated liquidity facilities akin to swap lines arranged by the Federal Reserve and Bank of England. The summit endorsed capital adequacy and leverage norm reforms paralleling proposals by Basel Committee on Banking Supervision and anticipated stricter oversight similar to frameworks in Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act discussions. Measures included support for trade finance through multilateral institutions and expansion of IMF lending resources using quotas and bilateral commitments.
Short-term outcomes included market reassurance, announcements of stimulus totals across participants, and an agreed timetable for IMF resource increases and Financial Stability Board formation. Implementation proceeded via national legislatures such as the United States Congress, House of Commons of the United Kingdom, and parliaments in France, Germany, and Japan; regulatory rulemaking involved agencies including the Securities and Exchange Commission, Financial Services Authority (United Kingdom), BaFin, and Japan Financial Services Agency. Follow-up occurred at subsequent summits including the 2009 G20 Pittsburgh summit and G20 finance ministers meetings, with periodic reviews by G20 Sherpas and committees such as the IMF–World Bank boards.
Reactions ranged from praise by market institutions including indices on the FTSE 100 and S&P 500 to criticism from civil society groups like Friends of the Earth, Oxfam, and Transparency International over perceived inadequacies in addressing global imbalances, conditionality on assistance to developing countries, and limited commitments to regulatory overhaul. Critics from academia at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Princeton University, University of Oxford, and London School of Economics argued reforms did not fully curb systemic risk, while policymakers in Brazil, South Africa, Mexico, and Turkey pressed for greater voice in quota reforms at the IMF. Protests in London highlighted tensions with groups including UK Uncut and trade union federations such as the Trades Union Congress.
Category:G20 summits