The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has met with a host of senior lawyers in Paris as part of a bid to bolster confidence in the US capital markets regime among European companies and advisers.

The unusual move saw Paul Atkins, one of the five commissioners that govern the powerful US regulator, last month conduct a series of meetings in Paris with CEOs and CFOs from major European businesses. Atkins also met specifically with Paris lawyers and in-house counsel on 18 May.