WTO Financial Services Agreement Now in EffectWashington, DC, March 3, 1999 - The World Trade Organization's Financial Services Agreement negotiated in 1997 entered into force on March 1, 1999. The Agreement covers banking, insurance, securities, asset management, and financial information. In this agreement under the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS), countries made binding commitments to provide national treatment and market access in financial services, as specified in their country schedules, to financial services firms from any WTO member country. Countries that fail to honor these commitments are subject to enforcement action in the WTO. Under the Agreement, a number of countries in Asia, Latin America, Africa and Eastern Europe have committed to permit foreign firms to establish wholly owned asset management subsidiaries. Some countries also made liberal commitments to provide cross-border access to their markets, although cross-border supply was not a focus of the 1997 negotiations. Seventy-one countries signed the agreement in 1997 and these countries account for over 95 percent of the world's trade in financial services. The Institute issued a statement in support of the agreement. The implementation schedule for the Agreement required countries to ratify the Agreement by January 29, 1999. The governments of 54 countries, including the U.S., met the January deadline; 18 did not (see table below). Several countries, including Luxembourg and Australia, expect to ratify very soon while others, such as the Philippines and Brazil, believe ratification will be delayed for some months. U.S. trade negotiators have advised the U.S. financial services industry that the U.S. government will make every effort to assure that the remaining countries ratify as soon as possible. WTO Financial Services Agreement
Countries that Have Ratified |
Countries that Have NOT Ratified |
Bahrain |
Australia |
Canada |
Bolivia |
Chile |
Brazil |
Columbia |
Bulgaria |
Cyprus |
Costa Rica |
Czech Republic |
Dominican Republic |
Ecuador |
Luxembourg |
Egypt |
El Salvador |
EC and the following Member States: Austria, Belguim, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Portugal, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom |
Ghana |
Hong Kong, China |
Honduras |
Hungary |
Jamaica |
Iceland |
Kenya |
India |
Nicaragua |
Indonesia |
Nigeria |
Israel |
Philippines |
Japan |
Poland |
Republic of Korea |
Slovenia |
Kuwait |
Uruguay |
Macau |
|
Malaysia |
|
Malta |
|
Mauritius |
|
Mexica |
|
New Zealand |
|
Norway |
|
Pakistan |
|
Peru |
|
Romania |
|
Senegal |
|
Singapore |
|
Slovak Republic |
|
South Africa |
|
Sri Lanka |
|
Switzerland |
|
Thailand |
|
Tunisia |
|
Turkey |
|
United States |
|
Venezuela |
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