 RESTRICTED  
  
S/FIN/M/100  
 
21 December 2023  
(23-8785) Page: 1/4 
Committee on Trade in Financial Services  Original: English  
 
REPORT OF THE MEETING HELD ON 1 DECEMBER  2023  
NOTE BY THE SECRETARIAT1 
The Committee on Trade in Financial Services held a meeting on 1 December  2023, under the 
Chairpersonship of Mr. Gabriel BAUTISTA (Philippines) . The agenda was contained in document 
WTO/AIR/CTFS/17 . Prior to the meeting, an annotated agenda had been circulated in document 
JOB/SERV/CTFS/8 .  
No issue was raised under other business and the agenda was adopted .  
1  ADOPTION OF THE ANNUAL R EPORT TO THE COUNCIL FOR TRADE IN SERVICES  
1.1.  In compliance with reporting obligations to the Council for Trade and Services, the Chairperson  
drew Members' attention to the draft Annual Report of the Committee, contained in document 
S/FIN/W/99 .  
1.2.  The representati ve of India asked whether the annual report would include the discussions at 
this meeting.  
1.3.  In reply to that question, the Chairperson  clarified that the annual report covered the period 
from the previous report up until the Committee's previous meeting, in  October, and would therefore 
not cover discussions at this meeting. He added that the summary of discussions at this meeting 
would be included in the next cycle of the Annual Report  for next year.   
1.4.  There were no further comments on the draft Annual Report.  
1.5.  Following the proposal by the Chairperson, the Committee adopted  the 2023 Annual Report, 
as contained in document S/FIN/W/99 .  
1.6.  The Chairperson  said that the Annual Report just adopted would be issued as document 
S/FIN/38  and would be submitted to the Council for Trade in Services.  
2  PROPOSAL FOR A THEMATIC SEMINAR ON COST OF REMITTANCE SERVICES – 
COMMUNICATION FROM INDIA , THE PHILIPPINES  AND SOUTH AFRIC A.  
2.1.  The Chairperson  said that a revised proposal had been  circulated in document 
JOB/SERV/CTFS/2/Rev.2 , dated 26 October 2023.  In addition to India and the Philippines , the 
proposal had also been co -sponsored by South Africa.  This revise d proposal was discussed at the 
informal meeting of the Committee held on 16 November.  The discussion at that meeting showed 
convergence among Members.  The Chairperson took the opportunity to thank the proponents , and 
all interested Members for the constru ctive and positive attitude shown throughout the process. He 
added that during the informal meeting, he also encouraged the co -sponsors to coordinate with the 
delegations that commented on the revised proposal to confirm its content. It was his understandi ng 
that those delegations were amenable with the text of the proposal in its current form.  
 
1 This document has been prepared under the Secretariat's own responsibility and is without prejudice 
to the positions of Members or to their rights and obligations under the WTO.  S/FIN/M/100  
 
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  2.2.  Before putting the proposal up for adoption by the Committee, he turned to the co -sponsors 
to confirm the content of the proposal.  
2.3.  The representative of India said that the proposal had been introduced at the meeting of the 
Committee in March 2023. The proposal was subsequently co -sponsored by the Philippines and 
South Africa. She said that the Committee had a very detailed discussion on the proposal. She 
thank ed Members for the comments and suggestions made during those meetings. The proponents 
tried to incorporate most of those suggestions. Following those discussions, a revised proposal was 
circulated on 26 October. That revised proposal, contained in documen t JOB/SERV/CTFS/ 2/Rev.2 , 
was considered at the informal meeting of the Committee held on 16 November. The proponents 
were appreciative of the comments and support received from Members at that meeting. She 
confirmed the text of the prop osal contained in that document and expressed the hope that it would 
be adopted at this meeting.  
2.4.  The representative of South Africa  reiterated his delegation's support for the proposal.  
2.5.  There were no further comments on the proposal.  
2.6.  Noting the consensus o n the latest version of the proposal, the Chairperson  invited the 
Committee to adopt the proposal as contained in document JOB/SERV/CTFS/2/Rev.2 . The 
Committee so agreed . 
2.7.  The Chairperson  thanked delegations for their support for the prop osal and highlighted the 
next steps. He said that the annotated agenda for the seminar on costs of remittance services  just 
adopted would be circulated as a Committee document after this meeting.  The Secretariat would  
start drawing up a programme and would  identify potential dates next year, most probably back -to-
back with the first cluster of services meetings, which had been tentatively scheduled for the week 
of 25 March. The seminar would be held in hybrid form , allowing for the participation of speakers  
and delegates in person or through Zoom. Noting that , as indicated in the proposal, the discussions 
and presentations may be approached from global, regional, and national perspectives , he invited 
interested Members to identify potential speakers from nat ional regulatory agencies or ministries, 
as well as from the private sector , and from regional organizations. He indicated that a reminder  to 
that effect would be sent after this meeting .2 In the meantime, the Secretariat would identify and 
contact potent ial speakers from relevant international organizations.  The Chairperson's  intention 
was to circulate a draft program me as early as possible in the new year and if needed, to convene 
an informal meeting in due course to discuss the programme.  
2.8.  The Committee took note  of the statements made and agreed  to revert to this agenda item at 
the next meeting to report on the outcome of the seminar.  
3  FINANCIAL SERVICES:  TRADE, INCLUSION AND ACCESSIBILITY – FOLLOW UP TO THE 
THEMATIC SEMINAR  
3.1.  The Chairperson  recalled that at the meetings that followed the thematic seminar held on 
14 June, Members expressed their support for further exploring some of the many issues addressed 
at the seminar.  A recurring theme i n those interventions was that of financial technology.  
Suggestions were made by various Members to further explore, in particular , two aspects of the 
financial technology issue: first , the impact of digitalization on financial services and how Members 
could better leverage digital technologies to promote access to financial services and advance 
financial inclusion domestically and worldwide ; and second, how domestic regulatory frameworks 
had been adapted to take account of innovation and technology in the context of financial inclusion 
policies.  
3.2.  As to how to proceed, suggestions made at the last formal meeting included the organization 
of thematic sessions on targeted issues where Members could exchange information and share the ir 
national experiences.  
 
2 In a message sent by the Chairperson after the meeting, Members wishing to contribute speakers  to 
the seminar were invited to communicate the names of those resource persons to the Secretariat  by COB 
Friday 15 January 2024.  S/FIN/M/100  
 
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  3.3.  Based on those indications  by Members , at the meeting held on 2 October, he raised some 
potential questions for discussion  and possible approaches and suggested the organization of a 
dedicated session on "Fintech and Financial Inclusion".  The informal meeting held on 16 November 
confirmed the interest of Members in pursuing discussions on th e issues referred to and the ir 
readiness to discuss the modalities and cont ent of these discussions.  However, at the same time, he 
did note  that some delegations ' preference  was that interested Members formulate specific proposals 
on how to address and organize such discussions and prioritize among all the potential aspects and 
topics that could be addressed.  
3.4.  Against that backdrop, the invited Members, in particular those in terested in further exploring 
these issues and any other issues related to financial inclusion, were invited to offer their own 
perspectives and suggestions on the way forward.  
3.5.  The representative of South Africa  said that the payment services landscape had seen rapid 
changes , especially in connection with travel and tourism. Travel and tourism remained a significant 
and strong growth engine for developing countries where new destinations were growing. There 
were opportunities for deepening travel e -commerce in developing countries , and LDCs relied on 
this evolving travel payment services ecosystem . It would be useful for the CTFS to further explore 
trends in payment services linked to travel and tourism and how cu stomer needs and demands were 
driving innovation in travel payment services. Members could benefit from a dedicated discussion 
on this issue, focusing on current challenges with travel payments and opportunities to maximize 
travel payment trends. The Commi ttee could also explore whether travel and tourism merchants 
were being integrated into travel payment systems or were being left behind by  the digitalization of 
travel payments.   
3.6.  The Chairperson  said that he remained open to further consultations from Mem bers who might 
be interested in advancing discussions on th ese issues. He encouraged interested Members to submit 
proposals and offered to further discuss with them potential approaches for driving this  discussion  
forward.  
3.7.  The Committee took note  of statem ents made and agreed  to revert to this agenda item at the 
next meeting.  
4  FUTURE WORK OF THE COMMITTEE  
4.1.  The Chairperson  said that at the last meeting, the Committee discussed how to advance 
substantive work and enliven the Committee's work. Given the tone of the current meeting, he said 
he would not open discussion on the substance of future work but would rather turn to substantive 
aspects at the next formal meeting.  
4.2.  Turning to procedural aspects of the Committee's activities, he said that in the framework o f 
the discussions on WTO reform that were being held at the Council for Trade in Services (CTS), the 
CTS Chair had indicated that it was the prerogative of subsidiary bodies to decide on possible 
improvements to their functioning. The CTS Chair produced , under her responsibility , a report 
summarizing the reactions to the various proposals put forward by Members, which was contained 
in document JOB/SERV/CTS/19 . The CTS would address this issue at its upcoming meeting on 
7 December, on the basis of the  Draft Report to the General Council contained in document 
JOB/SERV/CTS/22 , circulated by the CTS Chair on 27 November. Section 3 of this report listed the 
improvements to the CTS functioning that had been introduced or implemented, including change s 
which had been formally adopted by the Council and changes directly implemented by the Secretariat 
following discussions in the CTS. In addition, the report contained elements identified in italics and 
double square brackets which concerned those aspects  whose implementation still depended on the 
outcome of discussions at the forthcoming meeting of the CTS.  
4.3.  The Chairperson said that although the Committee had the prerogative to decide on its working 
modalities, he was of the view that it would be advisab le to ensure a minimum of consistency with 
the modalities adopted by the CTS. He suggested therefore that the Committe e agree to apply , 
mutatis mutandis, the improvements  to the  functioning that would be endorsed by the Council at its 
meeting on 7 December , and that it sends  a communication to that effect to the Council 's 
Chairperson so that she might factor that into her report to the General Council.  S/FIN/M/100  
 
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  4.4.  The representative of India said that the CTS was considering its working modalities from its 
own perspective. While Members might converge on many of the proposals put forward to improve 
the functioning of the CTS, she was not sure whether the Committee should endorse those too. In 
her view, the Committee should instead carry out a similar discussion and consider those proposals 
through its own perspective and in light of its mandate.  
4.5.  The representative of Canada  said that there seemed to be a timing issue. Since the discussions 
at the CTS were still ongoing and proposals were still being consider ed, it might be prudent for the 
Committee to wait for the outcome of the CTS discussions and decide subsequently whether or not 
the improvements to the functioning adopted by the CTS were relevant for the CTFS.  
4.6.  The representative of the United Kingdom  welcome d the improvements to the functioning 
already implemented. While his delegation supported keeping consistency with working modalities 
endorsed by the CTS where that made sense, he said that it would be sensible for the CTFS to do a 
sense check following th e discussion at the CTS, draw the relevant lessons from the CTFS 
perspective, and work out which improvements to the functioning would be appropriate for the 
Committee.  
4.7.  The representative of Australia  said that, while his delegation agreed that consistenc y with the 
CTS and across Services subsidiary bodies made sense, from a procedural point of view, it would 
make sense to allow the CTS meeting to take place first. Consideration of these issues by the CTFS 
might not necessarily be an arduous process once  the CTS had been through them.  
4.8.  The Chairperson  agreed that the Committee should have a look at what the Council might 
agree to. The issue then would be one of timing. In that regard, he drew Members attention to the 
fact that the next formal meeting of the Committee would be held in March. Therefore, if there was 
a desire to have these improvements to the functioning adopted by the Committee and eventually 
reported to the General Council before the Ministerial Conference, then there might be a need to go 
through this exercise prior to that, at least th rough an informal meeting. In other words, the CTFS 
could either hold a short meeting in the coming weeks just to consider this issue or defer 
consideration of the issue until March.  
4.9.  The representative of the United States  said that it would be prudent to  let the CTS complete 
its work before automatically transposing any of those changes to the functioning of the CTFS. That 
said, his delegation was flexible as to how and when to approach this. He agree d with the idea of 
holding an extraordinary meeting to just focus on this  matter.  
4.10.  The representative of India said that Members would require more time to study the CTS 
recommendations and consider their appropriateness for the CTFS than a meeting convened at short 
notice would allow. Otherwise, Members would not be able to do justice to the task at hand . In that 
light, it would be better to look at a timeframe longer than the one suggested by the Chairperson.  
4.11.  The Chairperson  reassured Members that sufficient time would be given for their consideration 
of the improvements agreed to by the Council. He said he would consult with the CTS Chairperson 
and inform Committee Members of the possible approaches on this issue.  
4.12.  The Committee took note  of the sta tements made and agreed  to revert to this agenda item 
at the next meeting . 
5  OTHER BUSINESS  
5.1.  There were no items raised under Other Business.  
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