e finance ministry?"
At a time when both the United States and Brazil are working towards better relations, the cable also provides insight into longstanding U.S. concerns about doing business in Latin America's largest economy.
Meirelles offered "to be helpful behind the scenes in pressing for priority regulatory reforms to improve the business climate," according to the document.
The New York Stock Exchange's chairman at the time, John Thain, was planning a visit to Brazil and Ambassador Sobel stressed that "Brazil's investment climate must be welcoming" to take advantage of this interest.
Business leaders have long seen Brazil's cumbersome tax and labor laws as an obstacle to sustainable, long-term economic growth. Double-digit interest rates -- among the world's highest -- are also seen as a hurdle to Brazil's aspirations to join the ranks of developed nations.
Meirelles, in the cable, highlighted regulatory roadblocks as a particular problem, without specifying what those were, and said he was willing to be helpful in the background.
"Meirelles undertook, were the (U.S. government) to provide a detailed study of these roadblocks, to press for changes," U.S. embassy staff wrote. (Editing by Todd Benson and Claudia Parsons)