Germany's Schaeuble, U.S. Treasury Secretary Mnuchin agree to cooperate

Reuters
German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble attends the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland January 19, 2017. REUTERS/Ruben Sprich

BERLIN (Reuters) - German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble and his new U.S. counterpart Steven Mnuchin spoke on the phone on Wednesday and agreed to work together closely, a spokeswoman in Berlin said on Thursday. "In the conversation, both ministers reaffirmed their keen interest in constructive cooperation," the Finance Ministry spokeswoman said. Schaeuble invited Mnuchin to the G20 meeting of finance ministers and central bank governors in Baden-Baden in March and Mnuchin confirmed his intention to participate, she added. Schaeuble said on Tuesday he would try to dissuade Mnuchin from deregulating the financial markets after U.S. President Donald Trump had ordered reviews of major banking rules that were put in place after the financial crisis. ECB policymaker Jens Weidmann on Thursday also warned against rolling back jointly agreed rules which force banks to build bigger buffers against future crises. (Reporting by Gernot Heller; Writing by Michael Nienaber; Editing by Paul Carrel)