Leaders of France, Brazil aim for unity on G-20

The presidents of France and Brazil are to try to forge a united front going into the G-20 summit by building on the two nations' common call for tighter regulation of financial markets.

France's Nicolas Sarkozy and Brazil's Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva are slated to meet Wednesday in Paris hours before the opening of the London summit, at which the world's richest countries are to take on the economic crisis.

Silva's spokesman, Marcelo Baumbach, told reporters the Brazilian leader believes that Brazil and France are well placed "to propose a systemic reform that would allow the financial institutions to respond to the present challenges."

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