Financial Services
Around the world, there are calls for robust regulations of banks and the financial sector. There is a new global consensus for reregulation in the aftermath of the 2008 global economic crisis. But there is a seeming total lack of awareness that most of the world's countries are bound to expansive financial services deregulation requirements imposed by the World Trade Organization (WTO) and various Free Trade Agreements (FTAs). These terms lock in domestically, and export internationally, the model of extreme financial service deregulation that most analysts consider a prime cause of the global financial crisis. Deregulation (not only liberalization) of the financial service sector – including banking, insurance, asset management, pension funds, securities, and more – is among the most important, but least discussed, aspects of the WTO and FTAs. These onerous terms are being replicated and expanded in trade deals now under consideration like the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) "free trade" agreement.
Reports and Memos | Press Room | Congress Speaks Out
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- Developing Countries Need a Fix for WTO's Ban on Capital Controls (September 14, 2011)
- WTO Implications of Geithner's Derivatives Regulation Loophole (June 6, 2011)
- How to Reform WTO and FTA Rules to Confront Too-Big-To-Fail Banks (May 10, 2011)
- Answering Critical Questions about Conflicts Between Financial Reregulation at WTO Rules Hitherto Unaddressed by the WTO Secretariat and Other Official Sources (June 22, 2010)
- WTO Conflict with Capital Management Techniques and How to Fix It (June 9, 2010)
- Answering Critical Questions about Conflicts Between Financial Reregulation and WTO Rules Raised by Finance Committee Trade Subcommittee Chair Wyden that USTR Dismissed (May 21, 2010)
- "Stiglitz Commission" Calls for WTO Financial Services Reform (January 4, 2010)
- WTO Documents Reveal that Doha Round Would Further Financial Deregulation, In Contradiction to G-20 Call for Reregulation (October 21, 2009)
- Policy Primer: The WTO and the Global Economic Crisis (November 2009)
- No Meaningful Safeguards for Prudential Measures in World Trade Organization's Financial Service Deregulation Agreements (September 2009)
- Reporters' Memo: Is the Obama Administration Working With the EU and Canada to Block Real Reform at this Week's UN Financial Crisis Summit? (June 22, 2009)
- G-20 Summit: Will Leaders Address Existing WTO Rules That Stymie Necessary Re-Regulation of Financial Services, Reject WTO Doha Round's Agenda of Further Financial Service Deregulation? (March 30, 2009)
- Lori Wallach's Testimony to Subcommittee on Terrorism, Nonproliferation and Trade on WTO Financial Services Agreement (March 12, 2009)
- Reporters' Memo: Elimination of WTO's Radical Financial Service Deregulation Requirements Must Be Addressed at Nov. 15 Summit (November 12, 2008)
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- Americans for Financial Reform: Coalition of 250 Civil Society Organizations Expresses Concern about Financial Deregulation in Trade Agreements (December 19, 2013)
- OWINFS: 341 Civil Society Groups From Around the Globe Send Letter to Governments Opposing Proposed "Trade in Services Agreement (TISA)" in WTO (September 16, 2013)
- U.S. Civil Society Groups Urge Obama Administration to Ensure U.S. Trade Policy is Consistent with Global Development Goals (February 19, 2013)
- More than 100 Civil Society Groups Issue Statement in Support of Ecuador's Proposal to Clarify Policy Space for Capital Controls (September 24, 2012)
- EU Organizations Call for Discussion of Impact of WTO Rules on Financial Regulation (September 24, 2012)
- Reps. Frank and Levin Call on the Obama Administration to Clarify U.S. Position on Capital Controls in the TPP (May 23, 2012). Read Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner's Response here (July 19, 2012)
- Global Development and Environment Institute, Tufts University: Letter from Economists Around the World Expressing Concern About TPP Capital Controls Ban (February 28, 2012)
- International Trade Union Confederation, Australian Fair Trade & Investment Network and U.S. Labor & Consumer Groups Call for Review of WTO Rules that Hinder Financial Re-regulation (October 2011)
- United Nations Conference on Trade and Development 2011 Report (Financial Reregulation Chapter) (September 6, 2011)
- GTW and Civil Society Allies to Ambassador Punke on WTO Financial Deregulation (April 21, 2011)
- OWINFS: Another Doha Round Deadline Failure: Why Yesterday's Solution to Yesterday's Agenda is No Longer in Demand in Today's Global Economy (April 21, 2011)
- OWINFS Press Release: International Call for G-20 Action on WTO Financial Deregulation. See letter here (April 13, 2011)
- Global Development and Environment Institute, Tufts University: Over 250 Economists Issue Statement on Capital Controls and Trade Treaties (January 31, 2011)
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