- France to lead search for Lagarde's replacement as IMF chief.
Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire of France, which holds the rotating presidency of the G7 top world economies, told a news conference the group opposed the idea that companies could have the same privilege as nations in creating means of payment - but without the control and obligations that go with it.
"We cannot accept private companies issuing their own currencies without democratic control," Le Maire said.
In a summary of the informal G7 talks in Chantilly, north of Paris, the French presidency said the ministers and governors had agreed that "stablecoins and other various new products currently being developed, including projects with global and potentially systemic footprint such as Libra, raise serious regulatory and systemic concerns".
The G7 are concerned that Facebook's ambitions for a digital currency might not only weaken their control over monetary and banking policies but also pose security risks.
The G7 also agreed that large tech companies such as Google, Amazon, Facebook or Apple can be taxed in the countries in which they make money, even without being physically present there. They also agreed that there should be a minimum level of tax to discourage countries from competing in a "race to the bottom" to attract business from digital multinationals.
"A minimum level of effective taxation, such as for example the US GILTI regime, would contribute to ensuring that companies pay their fair share of tax," the chair summary concluded.
The US' Global Intangible Low-Taxed Income regime (GILTI) aims to subject overseas intangible income to 10.5 per cent to discourage firms from shifting profits abroad to avoid the nominal US corporate tax rate of 21 per cent.
Using the GILTI regime could help allay possible US fears that the new rules could discriminate against US companies.
"We're beginning to develop a framework... we feel very strongly that this should not just be geared at the US digital companies," US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told journalists.
An outline of the new regime and its implementation is to be developed by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) by the end of the year, so that the details can be agreed by the end of 2020.
Several European countries including France, Italy, Britain and Spain have already introduced their own taxes on digital companies or plan to do so. Washington saw the French levy as discriminating against US companies, and launched a probe that could lead to the imposition of tariffs on French goods.
Le Maire said Paris would keep its levy in place until the new, internationally agreed tax replaced it.
The meeting comes amid growing global economic uncertainty as US-China trade tensions and slowing trade threaten to undermine a prolonged recovery.
France to lead IMF 'head' hunt
Meanwhile, Le Maire also said on Thursday he will lead talks on finding a single European candidate to succeed Christine Lagarde as head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
The post of IMF managing director, which by convention goes to a European, became vacant after Lagarde was tapped by EU leaders to head the European Central Bank.
Finance ministers of the four European members of the G7 - Germany, France, Britain and Italy - met informally on the sidelines of the meeting of the most developed nations in Chantilly outside Paris to discuss the issue. Sources said after the meeting that the names of several candidates had been floated but no selection was made.
"We agreed that it was important one European name was put forward. A number of names were informally discussed but no short list was established," a European official, who asked not to be named, said.
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