The Ricol report asserts the need for new cooperation in the financial area

In line with the assignment entrusted to him by the President of the Republic last April, René Ricol submitted his conclusions on the financial crisis on September 2, 2008. The report which goal is to establish a clear diagnostic on the current financial crisis ends in a series of 30 recommendations.

These define a very extended field of intervention and particularly : the improvement of information on financial stability matters at the political level, the organisation of a financial « Interpol » at international level, which role would be to enquire on market abuse and financial fraud, as well as the harmonisation of financial rules and regulatory reinforcement.

They also insist on the importance of better regulating raw material markets, due to the tight links between the financial crisis and the food crisis through the extreme volatility of agricultural prices. By assessing that raw materials’ price volatility has worsened the climate of uncertainty, it indeed estimates that « today it’s hard to separate the two crisis and the possibility of a speculative bubble on this market shouldn’t be discarded. »

Beyond the recommendations put forward, the recent financial crisis has made the international community conscious of the need for greater transparency and more efficient regulation. Hopefully we will not witness another international food crisis and see the same kind of awareness emerge in the agricultural area.