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The two-day G20 summit kicked off on Friday amidst heavy policing in US city of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
About 500 protestors were found outside the convention centre carrying anti-capitalist signs and saying: "Bankers, bankers, watch your back, we don't protest, we attack."
About a dozen Greenpeace activists were arrested after rappelling from a bridge and unfurling a banner, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette newspaper reported.
US Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner has called for the finalisation of an agreement in financial reforms as the summit concludes.
There is a strong consensus on the framework for reform, including higher capitalisation of banks, reforms in executive pay and stronger regulation of hedge funds and derivatives, Geithner said.
He has demanded the leaders to act before people forget the crisis.
Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt, whose country holds the European Union's rotating presidency, said: "When it comes to financial market regulations, we're very worried about the fact that banks seem to be returning to business as usual."
He said: "The idea that banks should be allowed to keep profits for themselves but extend the bills for losses to the taxpayer will not be accepted."
European Commission chief Jose Manuel Barroso said: "We can't let financial markets return to the same behaviour as before."
The EU has called for more stringent market regulations and restrictions on executive compensation.
Geithner said he has seen signs of the beginnings of a recovery from the global recession.
"This is encouraging, but we have a ways to go," he said.
