French Connection

Jean-Pierre Jouyet, the newly appointed head of the French financial markets regulator Autorité des marchés financiers, has a clear agenda — increase coordination between European regulators and boost confidence in financial markets. Jouyet, 54, boasts the right credentials. The former head of European Affairs in President Nicolas Sarkozy’s government, Jouyet also ran the French Treasury at the beginning of the decade. The suspected fraud at New York–based Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities only strengthens his message, Jouyet, who declined requests for an interview, toldLe Parisienin December. The case "shows the need to apply rules protecting investors in the same way throughout Europe."