RESTRICTED
WORLD TRADE S/FIN/M/1
12April 1995
ORGANIZATION
(95-0911)
Committee onTrade inFinancial Services
REPORT OFTHE MEETING HELD ON28MARCH 1995
Note bytheSecretariat
1. Thefirstmeeting oftheCommittee onTrade inFinancial Services waschaired byMr.Frank
SwedloveofCanada.Severaldelegationswererepresentedatseniorlevelforthismeeting.Thediscussion
followed theagenda forthemeeting contained inAirgram WTO/AIR/30.
2. TheChairman started byrecalling theimportance oftheroleoftheCommittee andtheneed
tobring asuccessful conclusion tothepresent negotiations onfinancial services before thedeadline
ofend-June. Itwasemphasized thatsuccess would bemade possible onlythrough maximum efforts
byallparticipants, anditwould notbeanexaggeration tosaythatthecredibility oftheGATS and
thenewWorld Trade Organization would beputatriskifitwere nottosucceed.
3. Onobservership, itwasagreed thatallgovernments andinternational organizations thathad
beengranted observer status intheInterim Group onFinancial Services begiven observer status in
theCommittee. There wasalsoanagreement togrant observer status totheRepublic ofBulgaria.
4. Following brief introductions byJapan andtheUnited States withregard tothedocument
S/FIN/W/1, which wasacommunication fromthese countries ontheiragreement regarding financial
services signed on13February, thedelegate from Egypt reported onnewmeasures forgradual
liberalization oftheinsurance market nowsubmitted toParliament forapproval. Thiswould allow
foreign capital toparticipate ininsurance companies. South Africa expressed itsintention torevise
theofferinthefinancialservicessectortocoversecuritiesandrelatedservices,reinsuranceandinsurance
auxiliary services, andthebranching ofbanks. Therevised offers would befinalized andmade available
fordistribution during thefirstweek ofApril. Thailand explained recent developments inliberalizing
itsfinancial sectors which ithoped could beincorporated initscommitments. Norway indicated that
arevised schedule based ontheprinciple ofstandstill covering financial services wasabout tobefinalized
andthatitwould bepassed ontotheSecretariat assoon aspossible. Further measures towards
liberalization concerning theestablishment ofbranches bybanks areawaiting Parliamentary approval.
5. Ontheprogress ofbilateral negotiations, theChairman firstreported thatsofareightcountries
hadsubmitted totheSecretariat theirwritten intentions orconditional offers, asrequested inthelast
meeting oftheInterim Group. Some other delegations hadindicated thattheyhoped todosointhe
nearfuture.
6. Several delegations thathadsubmitted theirwritten intentions stressed theimportance ofthe
process andtheurgency ofmaking progress inthepresent negotiations andthatfurther contributions
byother participants toimprove thelevelofcommitments werenecessary forasuccessful conclusion
ofthepresent process. There werefairly encouraging signsofprogress; butinorder tocorrectly assess
thelevelofliberalization being achieved, itwasnecessary toconfirm them inwriting. Appropriate
commitmentsregardingmarketaccessandnationaltreatmentonanMFNbasiswasnecessarytoconclude
asatisfactory liberalization package. Thewillingness ofthecountries thathadsubmitted theirwritten
./.S/FIN/M/1
Page2
intentionstomaintainthepresentoffersweredependentontheimprovementofoffersbyothercountries.
7. Phase-in arrangements ofcommitments inafixedperiod oftimewerealsoencouraged. Korea,
Hong Kong andJapan expressed theirresolve tocontribute toasuccessful conclusion ofthenegotiations
bymaking specific improvements totheirschedules. Theimportance ofhaving allcommitments on
anMFN basis wasindicated asanessential element ofsuccess.
8. TheChairman reminded delegations thatanyprogress being made should bebrought tothe
attention oftheCommittee tobeadequately reflected inthereport totheCouncil forTrade inServices
attheendofApril. Those delegations which hadnotyetsubmitted theirwritten intentions werestrongly
urged todoso.
9. TheChairman introduced aninformal notewhich hehadworked onwiththeSecretariat showing
atentative timetable fornegotiations uptoend-June. Thekeydates were 8Mayforthesubmission
ofdraftrevised schedules aswellasrevised listsofMFN exemptions, and15Juneforfinalization
oftheseschedules andexemptions. Countries should havethechoice ofwhether tosubmit fullyrevised
schedules ortosimply provide amendments totheirschedules. Future meetings oftheCommittee would
bescheduled for28April, 18Mayand29June. Thedateofthemeeting inthebeginning ofJuneshould
bedecided laterinorder toensure high-level representation; otherwise thetimetable wasaccepted as
generally appropriate. Itwasalsoagreed thatthose countries whohadnotyetsubmitted theirwritten
intentions should dosoby10April.
10. Thedelegate ofJapan raised theneedtoconsider procedural issues formodifying theschedules
andtheentry intoforceofthemodified schedules. Itwassuggested thattheSecretariat provide material
onthissubject anddiscussion could takeplace inafuture meeting oftheCommittee, possibly on18
May.
11. Thedelegate ofCanada introduced apaper onthescheduling ofstaged liberalization infinancial
services. Theobjective wastooutline apossible approach tofacilitate additional liberalization for
developing countries byadding flexibility inmaking binding commitments. Depending ontheoutcome
ofnegotiations between Member countries, theproposed approach would allow forthescheduling of
staged liberalization overtimeandpossible "interruption" ofliberalization under certain objective
conditions oflimited duration. Once scheduled, noprior authorization seemed necessary toinvoke
theinterruption.However,anymemberinvokinganinterruptionwouldbeaskedtonotifytheCommittee.
12. Itwasagreed thatthenextmeeting oftheCommittee would takeplace on28April inthe
afternoon; thereport tobemade totheCouncil forTrade inServices should bediscussed atthismeeting.