Rich nations which make up the 'Group of Seven' endorsed a report by finance officials and regulators to commit to stricter supervision of the world's troubled financial system.

Top finance officials and central bankers who met in Washington on Friday received the suggestions from a group led by one of their peers which was asked last October to assess and analyze the state of financial markets and present recommendations for improvement.

The body, called the Financial Stability Forum, released the report publicly on Friday, just ahead of the meeting. The G7 comprises the United States, Canada, Britain, France, Germany, Italy and Japan.

The FSF report urges support for stronger accounting rules, closer bank supervision, and greater disclosure for assets.

We, the G-7, strongly endorse the report and commit to implementing its recommendations, the G7 said in a joint released statement.

The group said it had identified various recommendations that members would seek to implement within the next 100 days.

Among them were prompt risk disclosure by financial institutions of writedowns and estimated prices for financial products which they haven't been able to sell. Another included improving accounting and disclosure standards for off-balance entities.

Among the proposals which should be implemented by the end of the year were to raise the minimum level of capital for complex credit instruments and off-balance entities.

The FSF also cautions investors to be more careful when using credit rating agencies for making their investing decisions.

Agencies were also urged to address conflicts of interest, make clearer ratings for products and assess the quality of information it receives from agencies. Rating agencies have been accused of being too generous in rating certain types of investment product which have later diminished greatly in value.

Among the agencies are Moody's Corp, Standard & Poor's, and Fitch Ratings, which is owned by Fimalac.

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