Gordon Brown called yesterday for action against tax havens as part of a "grand bargain" on the global economy and regulation that the UK hopes can be agreed when it hosts April's G20 summit of leading developed and developing nations.

The UK prime minister highlighted the tax issue as one of his aims for the G20 at a press conference in London yesterday. "We want the whole of the world to take action," Mr Brown said. "That will mean action against regulatory and tax havens in parts of the world which have escaped the regulatory attention they need."