The Obama administration says the United States and Europe are in agreement on the need to achieve a global framework for regulating complex financial products known as derivatives.

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner has met with European Commissioner Michel Barnier, who is in charge of overseeing financial markets for the European Union.

The two reviewed progress being made toward implementing commitments made by the Group of 20 major economies to strengthen financial regulations in the wake of the banking crisis that struck in 2008, a Treasury Department statement said.

Geithner and Barnier agreed on the need to reduce systemic risk by dealing with the "too-big-to-fail" problem and working to put in place a global framework for comprehensive regulation of derivatives trading, Treasury said.

The statement also said that the two officials had agreed to work toward a common implementation date in 2011 for global rules governing trading by banks in securities and derivatives.

Those rules are being developed by the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision, an international advisory panel based in Basel, Switzerland, which recommends minimum regulatory standards for banks.

Barnier told reporters at a briefing later Wednesday that Geithner wrote to him recently with concerns that European hedge fund regulations would discriminate against American firms.

Barnier said that in their meeting he reassured Geithner that he would ensure that European legislation avoided protectionism.