U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission chairman Christopher Cox met with Committee of European Securities Regulators chairman Eddy Wymeersch and CESR vice chair Carlos Tavares Friday in Brussels to take stock of progress on the SEC-CESR joint work plan that was published in August 2006, and to discuss future collaboration.

The discussion focused on developments in the U.S. and the European Union with respect to international and U.S. accounting standards. Cox and Wymeersch agreed in principle, subject to final approval by the SEC and CESR members, to a template for bilateral protocols between the SEC and each of CESR’s member jurisdictions covering the confidential exchange of information regarding dual-listed issuers.

They also assessed progress in other areas covered by the joint work plan, namely, modernization of financial reporting and disclosure information technology, and regulatory platforms for risk management. Other matters discussed included mutual recognition of securities regulatory regimes as well as additional possible areas for inclusion in the SEC-CESR Dialogue in the future.

“As U.S. securities markets become increasingly interconnected with European markets, the SEC is deepening its relationships with our regulatory counterparts there. The model protocol that the SEC and the Committee of European Securities Regulators finalized Friday will serve as a blueprint for bilateral arrangements across the continent,” Cox said. These arrangements will let us confidentially share issuer-specific information, with the ultimate goal of encouraging high-quality and consistent application of International Financial Reporting Standards. As the SEC considers the impact of IFRS in our own markets, this goal is increasingly important to us.”

Wymeersch noted: “The fruitful discussions I have had Friday with chairman Cox show that we have a lot of highly important issues to monitor closely in our dialogue for the future. I believe that industry on both sides of the Atlantic would benefit if we could find ways of relying more on mutual recognition. We have also made important progress in the highly important issue of IFRS and U.S. GAAP under the existing work plan and it is with pleasure I note the promising discussions regarding dropping the reconciliation requirement that are taking place in the U.S.”