. /.  WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  S/FIN/12 
26 November 2004 
 (04-5158) 
Committee on Trade in Financial Services  
 
  
 
ANNUAL REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON TRADE IN FINANCIAL SERVICES TO 
THE COUNCIL FOR TRADE IN SERVICES (2004) 
 
 
1. Since its last annual report to the Council for Trade in Services (S/FIN/10), the Committee on 
Trade in Financial Services has held four formal  meetings, on 1 December 2003, 23 March, 25 June, 
and 28 September 2004
1.  In this period, the Committee addressed the following matters: the 
acceptance of the Fifth Protocol to the General Agreement on Trade in Services; technical issues; recent developments in financial services trade; and a proposal regarding the GATS and the Annex on 
Financial Services by Antigua a nd Barbuda, Belize, the Fiji Islands , Guyana, Papua New Guinea, The 
Maldives, Solomon Islands and St Kitts and Nevis.  Additionally, the OECD presented a document on 
the management of requests and offers in insu rance services, and the Committee carried out the 
second transitional review of the implementation by China of its WTO commitments, pursuant to 
section 18 of the Protocol on the Accession of the People's Republic of China. 
II. ACCEPTANCE OF THE FIFTH PROTOCOL TO THE GATS 
2. Three Members have not yet accepted the Protocol:  Brazil, Jamaica, and the Philippines.  At 
the Committee's invitation, some Members provided pe riodically information on the situation of their 
domestic acceptance procedures. Some delegations  expressed their concern that these countries had 
not yet accepted the Fifth Protocol. 
III. TECHNICAL ISSUES 
3. No specific issues were raised by Members under this agenda item in the period under 
consideration. In the meeting held on 25 June 2004, the Chairperson asked Members to discuss ideas 
for future work on the basis of an annotated agenda contained in JOB(04)/72. 
IV. RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN FINANCIAL SERVICES TRADE 
4. During the period under consideration, Memb ers continued their consideration of a 
communication from Malaysia entitled "Challenges in the Financial Services Sector" (S/FIN/W/28). 
Members also addressed a communication from Norway on marine and energy insurance 
(Job(04)/80), and a room document from Turkey on e-insurance initiatives by Turkish insurance 
companies.  At the meeting held on 28 Septem ber 2004, Mexico made a presentation on the legal 
framework for the modernization of the Mexican financial system. 
V. THE GATS AND THE ANNEX ON FINANCIAL SERVICES - INTERNATIONAL 
REGULATIONS AND FINANCIAL SERVICES 
5. In the period under consideration, Members c ontinued their consideration of the proposal 
submitted by Antigua and Barbuda on behalf of Antigua and Barbuda , Belize, Fiji, Guyana, Papua 
New Guinea, Maldives, Solomon Islands, and St. Kitts and Nevis (S/FIN/W/29/Rev.1).  
                                                     
 
1 Reports of these meetings are contained in documents S/FIN/M/43 to 46.  They should be read in 
conjunction with this report. S/FIN/12 
Page 2  
 
VI. TRANSITIONAL REVIEW UNDER SECTION 18 OF THE PROTOCOL ON THE 
ACCESSION OF THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA 
6. At its meeting on 1 December 2003, the Committe e carried out the second transitional review 
of the implementation by China of its WTO commitm ents, pursuant to section 18 of the Protocol on 
the Accession of the People's Republic of Chin a.  The report submitted by the Committee to the 
Council for Trade in Services on this matter is contained in document S/FIN/11.   
VII. PRESENTATION BY THE OECD 
7. At the invitation of the Committee, at the meeting held on 23 March 2004, the OECD 
presented a document entitled "Managing Request-Offe r Negotiations Under the GATS: the Case of 
Insurance Services", which is part of a join t project between OECD and UNCTAD to develop 
checklists for the preparation of requests and offers in different sectors.  
 
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