Washington called on China to more swiftly adopt policy changes that would allow market forces to determine the value of its currency. "Progress has been made in recent years but such efforts must be broadened and become more entrenched," Nathan Sheets, the Treasury's Undersecretary for International Affairs and America's top financial diplomat, said in a speech. The comments come after Sheets acknowledged last month that China had apparently stopped intervening in exchange markets to weaken its yuan currency since July. Asked after the speech if China's yuan was still undervalued, Sheets said Beijing was making progress in moving toward a market-determined rate but that Beijing should be more transparent about its activity in the exchange market. In his speech, given at an economics conference, Sheets also warned that fading memories of the 2007-09 financial crisis posed a risk to international efforts to strengthen banking regulations. He said Washington's was very keen for the Group of 20 to finalize new liquidity standards for large banks at a leaders summit in November. (Reuters)