Berlin  - German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Friday she hoped to see firm results on financial reform emerge from next week's Group of 20 (G20) summit in the United States.

"There is a strong degree of unity on the need for concrete progress at the meeting in Pittsburgh," the chancellor told a news conference in Berlin.

She was speaking a day after EU leaders agreed on a joint strategy for the September 24-25 summit, which they hope will put pressure on the US and other global players with important financial centres.

Merkel said she was looking for progress on curbing excessive bonuses paid to bankers, considered by some to have encouraged excessive risk-taking that helped trigger last year's financial crisis.

No financial products, no financial centres and no financial institutes should be allowed to operate without regulation, said Merkel, who faces a general election on September 27.

"We have the full support of all EU states," she said, adding the 27-nation bloc had made considerable progress in relation to financial supervision, ratings agency and bank capital ratios.

Merkel said she wanted to see a greater role for the G20, which includes developing economies such as China, India and Brazil, as well as members of the G8 club of rich nations.

"I would like to see the G20 become the format for future discussions in the world on global economic and financial issues," she said.

Foreign policy issues and international security would remain in the domain of the G8, she added.(dpa)