1 / 17

SADC negotiations on trade in financial services

SADC negotiations on trade in financial services. Workshop for 22 nd TNF Services Johannesburg 4 August 2014. Outline. State of play in negotiations Classification Issues arising from sector study Summary of requests and offers Issues related to FIP

caesar-cervantes
Download Presentation

SADC negotiations on trade in financial services

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. SADC negotiations on trade in financial services Workshop for 22nd TNF Services Johannesburg 4 August 2014

  2. Outline • State of play in negotiations • Classification • Issues arising from sector study • Summary of requests and offers • Issues related to FIP • How will the negotiations make a difference to regional trade • Decisions required • Key questions for breakout groups

  3. State of play with FS negotiations • Sector forum – July 2013 • TNF’s in July, November 2013, March 2014 • Requests from 7 Member States (of which 1 recently received) • Initial offers from 9 Member States (of which 3 recently received) • No revised offers as yet in response to bilateral negotiations

  4. Access to finance

  5. Classification

  6. Issues from sector study – GATS Schedules • Many market access and national treatment limitations listed in WTO schedules too general and not specific enough • Many limitations prudentialand may not need to be listed • Some limitations may not or may no longer reflect the current regulatory situation

  7. Issues from sector study • The importance of keeping banking markets open and competitive • The apparent paradox between the openness of markets, the lack of access to finance and the high cost of banking • The importance of access to micro-finance for low-income consumers and the emergence of regional micro-finance institutions

  8. Issues from sector study • Access to the national payments system for non-banking institutions • An appropriate balance between prudential requirements and restrictions on market access • The need for an understanding on financial services, including a prudential carve-out

  9. Summary of requests

  10. Summary of offers - insurance

  11. Summary of offers – banking and other FS

  12. Prudential carve-out GATS language: “Notwithstanding any other provisions of the Agreement, a Member shall not be prevented from taking measures for prudential reasons, including for the protection of investors, depositors, policy holders or persons to whom a fiduciary duty is owed by a financial service supplier, or to ensure the integrity and stability of the financial system. Where such measures do not conform with the provisions of the Agreement, they shall not be used as a means of avoiding the Member's commitments or obligations under the Agreement.”

  13. Issues related to FIP Protocol • FIP Annexes: • Macroeconomic convergence • Cooperation in taxation • Development finance • Non-bank financial institutions • Exchange control policies • ICT for Central Banks • Payment, clearing and settlement systems • Harmonisation of non-banking authorities • Cooperation among stock exchanges • Anti-money laundering

  14. Decisions required • Whether offers sufficient to meet requests, or improvements needed? • How to achieve any improvements – whether through continuation of bilateral negotiations or approaches? • What to do about prudential carve-out? • How TIS negotiations and FIP can complement each other? Additional commitments? • How TIS negotiations in financial services can contribute to regional integration of financial services markets? How to present results?

  15. Key questions for breakout groups • Requests and offers • How far do current offers meet requests? • How will business react to the market opportunities offered? • What improvements if any are needed? • How to achieve any such improvements? • Prudential carve-out • Is this needed for SADC? • What do you think of the GATS language? • How much of the other language from the GATS Annex on FS is also needed?

  16. Key questions for breakout groups • Other issues • Is the regional banking (and insurance) environment as open as it seems on paper? • What is the future for regulatory reform of SADC financial services? • Does micro-finance need to be tackled separately from banking? E.g. through an understanding under the TIS Protocol? • Is access to national payment systems for non-banking institutions protectionist? Why? What happens in other regions? • How can initiatives under the FIP be reinforced by commitments under the TIS Protocol?

  17. Questions and comments

More Related