Academic

The SEC hasn't abandoned its ever faltering mutual recognition efforts for foreign regulators and the markets they supervise.  The last time it tried this seriously, the agency only got as far as Canada - sorta.  But perhaps globalization - and the new impetus to harmonize accounting standards - will prove more inspiring this time.  Here is the SEC's plan going forward:

The Commission contemplates taking the following actions:

• Exploring initial agreements with one or more foreign regulatory counterparts, which would be based upon a comparability assessment by the SEC and by the foreign authority of one another's regulatory regimes.
  
• Considering adoption of a formal process for engaging other national regulators on the subject of mutual recognition. This process could be accomplished through rulemaking or other appropriate mechanisms, possibly informed by one or more initial agreements with other regulators.
• Developing a framework for mutual recognition discussions with jurisdictions comprising multiple securities regulators tied together by a common legal framework, including Canada (which has no national securities regulator, but rather provincial regulators) and the European Union (whose national securities regulators are subject to supranational legislation and directives).
  
• Proposing reforms to Rule 15a-6 in order to improve the process by which U.S. investors have access to foreign broker-dealers.

One guy to read on this is Larry Cunningham; you might start here.