RESTRICTEDWORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONS/C/W/86
9 December 1998
(98-5013)
Council for Trade in Services Original:  French
COMMUNICATION FROM CÔTE D'IVOIRE
CERTIFICATION
Revised Schedule of Specific Commitments and List of Article II (MFN)
Exemptions Regarding Financial Services
The attached draft Schedule of Specific Commitments and List of Article II Exemptions
regarding financial services have been communicated to the WTO by the Government of Côte d'Ivoire
with the request to initiate the appropriate proced ures for them to be added to, and constitute an
integral part of, Côte d'Ivoire's Schedule of Spec ific Commitments and List of Article II Exemptions
under the General Agreement on Trade in Services (documents GATS/SC/23 and GATS/EL/23).
_______________
The Government of Côte d'Ivoire herewith co mmunicates to the Members of the World Trade
Organization its amended initial offer concerning its Schedule of Commitments and its List of
Article II (MFN) Exemptions.
This initial offer essentially concerns the following financial services:(1) Insurance and insurance-related services:
(a) Direct life insurance;
(b) direct non-life insurance;(c) reinsurance and retrocession;(d) insurance intermediation:  brokerage and agency.
(2) Banking and other financial services (excluding insurance):
(a) Acceptance of deposits and other repayable funds from the public;
(b) lending of all types, including consumer credit, mortgage credit, factoring and
financing of commercial transactions;
(c) all payment and money transmission services, including credit, charge and
debit cards, travellers cheques and bankers drafts.
With respect to the Final List of Article II Exemptions under the General Agreement on Trade
in Services, Côte d'Ivoire has taken steps to preserve and guarantee the preferential measures alreadyin force under the following Agreements:S/C/W/86
Page 2
- Agreement Establishing the Inter-African Conference on Insurance Markets (CIMA);
- Agreement Establishing the West African Monetary Union (WAMU);- Agreement Establishing the West African Economic and Monetary Union
(WAEMU);
as well as those governing the common reinsurance companies of the member States of CICA
(CICARE) or the OAU (AFRICARE).
As the Agreement Establishing the WAEMU is general in scope, the specific texts governing
stock exchange services are the Convention on the Establishment of the Conseil régional de l'épargne
publique et des marchés financiers  (Regional Council on Public Savings and Financial Markets) and
its implementation texts.  This Convention was signed on 3 July 1996 and ratified by all of the
WAMU countries.
The description of the last measure (stock exchange services) in the Final List of Article II
(MFN) Exemptions submitted by Côte d'Ivoire on 12 December 1997 (document S/L/48) was thus
modified in order to better identify the legal source of the measure (instead of "preferential measures
taken in accordance with the Agreement establishing the West African Economic and Monetary
Union", "preferential measures taken in accordance with the Convention on the Creation of the
Regional Council on Public Savings and Financial Markets".  This modification affects neither thescope nor the coverage of the measure.
With respect to requests from other WTO Members to the Government of Côte d'Ivoire
concerning the offer of concessions on financial services, Côte d'Ivoire would like to make the
following remarks:
In its offer, it gave ample consideration to the concerns of their governments as regards
market access and national treatment.
The commercial presence of enterprises engaging in banking and insurance activities,
however, remains subject to criteria relating to th e legal form of the companies and the moral conduct
of their managers.
The exemption measures to be bound under Article II of the General Agreement on Trade in
Services are intended to safeguard the interests of Côte d'Ivoire and its partners in the monetary,
economic and cultural zones to which it belongs.
_______________
Accordingly, if no objections are communicated to the Secretariat within 90 days following
the date of this communication, the attached Schedule of Specific Commitments and List of Article IIExemptions regarding financial services will be deemed to constitute an integral part of the Schedule
of Specific Commitments and List of Article II Exemptions of Côte d'Ivoire under the GATS.S/C/W/86
Page 3
WORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATION
(98-0000)
Trade in Services
CÔTE D'IVOIRE
Schedule of Specific Commitments
Supplement 2
(This is authentic in French only)
_______________S/C/W/86
Page 4CÔTE D'IVOIRE – SCHEDULE OF SPECIFIC COMMITMENTS
Modes of supply:        (1)    Cross-border supply     (2)    Co nsumption abroad       (3)    Commercial presence      (4)    P resence of natural persons
Sector or subsector Limitations on market access Limit ations on national treatm ent Additional commitments
7. FINANCIAL SERVICES
A. Insurance and insurance-related
services
(a) Life insurance
(b) Non-life insurance(1) In accordance with the provisions of the
Insurance Code of the Inter-AfricanConference on Insurance Markets (CIMA),
insurance contracts concerning persons,
property or liabilities within Côte d'Ivoiremay only be concluded with entities thathave been approved for such purpose inCôte d'Ivoire.
(2) Unbound
(3) The insurance activities of a foreign
enterprise may only be exercised by anauthorized subsidiary or branch.
Authorization is conditional upon good
repute, qualification, financial guaranteesand an economic needs test.
(4) Unbound except for personnel employed by
insurance companies.(1) None
(2) Unbound
(3) None
(4) According to the provisions of the
CIMA Insurance Code, the general
agent of a branch office of a foreign
insurance company must be domiciledand have resided in Côte d'Ivoire forsix months.S/C/W/86
Page 5Modes of supply:        (1)    Cross-border supply     (2)    Co nsumption abroad       (3)    Commercial presence      (4)    P resence of natural persons
Sector or subsector Limitations on market access Limit ations on national treatm ent Additional commitments
(c) Reinsurance and retrocession
(d) Insurance intermediation:
- brokerage and agency(1) Unbound for mandatory cessions.
(2) Unbound for mandatory cessions.
(3) Unbound for mandatory cessions.(4) Unbound
(1) - Brokers are required to obtain
authorization from the Ministry incharge of the insurance sector to managerisks of any kind situated within Côte
d'Ivoire and to justify a permanent
presence in Côte d'Ivoire.
- Agents are required to obtain an agency
contract from an authorized insurancecompany, to justify a permanent
presence in Côte d'Ivoire and to obtain a
professional card from the Ministry incharge of the insurance sector.
(2) Unbound
(3) - For brokers, authorization is conditional
upon good repute, qualification andfinancial guarantees.
- For agents, the delivery of a
professional card is conditional upon
good repute and capacity.
(4) Unbound(1) Unbound for mandatory cessions.
(2) Unbound  for mandatory cessions.
(3) Unbound for mandatory cessions.(4) Unbound
(1) None
(2) Unbound
(3) None
(4) UnboundS/C/W/86
Page 6Modes of supply:        (1)    Cross-border supply     (2)    Co nsumption abroad       (3)    Commercial presence      (4)    P resence of natural persons
Sector or subsector Limitations on market access Limit ations on national treatm ent Additional commitments
B. Banking and other financial
services (excluding insurance)
(a) Acceptance of deposits and
other repayable funds from thepublic(1) None
(2) Deposits abroad (countries outside the franc
zone) require prior authorization by the
Ministry of Finance, except in the case of
deposits by banks and financialinstitutions, which are subject to control bythe Central Bank of West African States.
(3) Authorization to exercise a banking activity
is issued in the form of an order by theMinistry of Finance with the assent of theBanking Commission.
The authorization is conditional upon:
- Good repute;
- experience of the persons called upon to
administer or manage the bank or thefinancial institution and its agencies;
- financial guarantees by shareholders and
the company's ability to achieve itsdevelopment objectives in conditionsconsistent with the proper functioning of
the banking system and adequate
customer safety.
Banks must be set up as closed-end joint
stock companies with their Head Office inCôte d'Ivoire.(1) None
(2) None
(3) NoneS/C/W/86
Page 7Modes of supply:        (1)    Cross-border supply     (2)    Co nsumption abroad       (3)    Commercial presence      (4)    P resence of natural persons
Sector or subsector Limitations on market access Limit ations on national treatm ent Additional commitments
Open-end cooperative or mutual companies
may also take deposits subject to
authorization by the Ministry of Financewith the assent of the BankingCommission.  Authorization is conditionalupon good repute, qualification and
financial guarantee
s.
(4) A person may only administer or manage a
bank or financial institution or an agencythereof, if he is a national of a membercountry of the West African MonetaryUnion;  or, under an establishment
agreement, he is assimilated to such
nationals.  The Ministry of Finance, withthe assent of the Banking Commission, maygrant individual exemptions.
Physical persons may not accept deposits
from the public.(4) None
(b) Lending of all types,
including consumer credit,
mortgage credit, factoring
and financing ofcommercial transactions(1) Unbound
(2) Unbound
(3) Credit operations of any type may only be
carried out by authorized banks andfinancial institutions or by mutual savingsand loans institutions.  Authorization for
such activities is granted through an order
from the Ministry of Finance with theassent of the Banking Commission.
The authorization is conditional upon:
- Good repute;
- experience of the persons called upon
to, administer or manage the bank orthe financial institution and its
agencies;(1) Unbound
(2) Unbound
(3) NoneS/C/W/86
Page 8Modes of supply:        (1)    Cross-border supply     (2)    Co nsumption abroad       (3)    Commercial presence      (4)    P resence of natural persons
Sector or subsector Limitations on market access Limit ations on national treatm ent Additional commitments
- financial guarantees by shareholders
and the company's ability to achieve its
development objectives in conditionsconsistent with the proper functioningof the banking system and adequatecustomer safety.
Banks must be set up as closed-end joint
stock companies with their Head Office inCôte d'Ivoire.
(4) A person may only administer or manage
a bank or financial institution or an agency
thereof, if he is a national of a membercountry of the West African MonetaryUnion;  or, under an establishmentagreement, he is assimilated to suchnationals.  The Ministry of Finance, with
the assent of the Banking Commission,
may grant individual exemptions.(4) Unbound
(c) All payment and money
transmission services,including credit, chargeand debit cards, travellerscheques and bankers drafts(1) Unbound
(2) Unbound(3) The exercise of these activities resides
with the Postal Administration and the
banking institutions.  The latter mustobtain, in addition to the bankingauthorization, an authorization to act as anintermediary entitled to make settlements
abroad, granted by the Ministry of
Finance.
In addition, a specific authorization from
the Minister is required for issuing creditcards.
The authorization is conditional upon:
- Good repute;(1) Unbound
(2) Unbound(3) NoneS/C/W/86
Page 9Modes of supply:        (1)    Cross-border supply     (2)    Co nsumption abroad       (3)    Commercial presence      (4)    P resence of natural persons
Sector or subsector Limitations on market access Limit ations on national treatm ent Additional commitments
- experience of the persons called upon
to, administer or manage the bank orthe financial institution and itsagencies;
- financial guarantees by shareholders
and the company's ability to achieve its
development objectives in conditionsconsistent with the proper functioningof the banking system and adequatecustomer safety.
Banks must be set up as closed-end joint
stock companies with their Head Office inCôte d'Ivoire.
(4) Unbound (4) UnboundS/C/W/86
Page 10
WORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATION
(98-0000)
Trade in Services
CÔTE D'IVOIRE
LIST OF ARTICLE II (MFN) EXEMPTIONS
Supplement 1
(This is authentic in French only)
_______________S/C/W/86
Page 11COTE D'IVOIRE - FINAL LIST OF ARTICLE II (MFN) EXEMPTIONS
Sector or subsector Description of measure indicating
its inconsistency with Article IICountries to which the measure
appliesIntended duration Condition s creating the need for
the exemption
Insurance andinsurance-related
servicesPreferential measures taken in
accordance with the Agreement
establishing the Inter-African
Conference on Insurance Markets(CIMA)Member States of the franc zone Indefinite To promote regional and
subregional integration in the
insurance sector
Brokerage and agency
services in theinsurance sectorAccess to the Ivorian brokerage and
agency services market for foreignnatural persons depends on the
possibilities of reciprocal access for
Ivorian suppliers in the countriesconcernedAll countries Indefinite To improve the conditions of
access for Ivorian suppliers abroad
Reinsurance - Compulsory transfer to CICA-
RE of at least 5 per cent ofnon-automobile premiumsissued by branches of foreigncompanies operating in Côte
d'IvoireMember States of the franc zone Indefinite To promote the regional and
subregional integration of thereinsurance market
- Compulsory transfer to
CICA-RE of at least 15 percent of the reinsurance treatiesof companies subject to Ivorianlaw
Reinsurance Compulsory transfer to AFRICA-
RE of 5 per cent of the reinsurancetreaties signed by insurance bodiesoperating in Côte d'IvoireMember States of the Organization
of African UnityIndefinite To promote regional and
subregional integration of thereinsurance marketS/C/W/86
Page 12Sector or subsector Description of measure indicating
its inconsistency with Article IICountries to which the measure
appliesIntended duration Condition s creating the need for
the exemption
Acceptance of depositsand other repayablefunds from the publicDeposits made with a bank situated
in the WAEMU by a resident donot require an authorization fromthe Minister for FinanceWAEMU Member States Indefinite To promote subregional
integration in the banking sector
Banking services Any person who is a director,
administrator or manager of a bank
or financial establishment or one of
their agencies must be a national ofa country of the West AfricanMonetary Union (WAMU)WAMU Member States Indefinite To promote regional and
subregional integration in the
banking services sector
Banking services Preferential measures taken in
accordance with the Agreementestablishing WAMUWAMU Member States Indefinite To promote regional and
subregional integration in thebanking services sector
Stock exchangeservices(subparagraphs (x) to(xiv) in the list ofsectors in the Annex on
financial services)Preferential measures taken in
accordance with the Convention onthe Creation of the RegionalCouncil on Public Savings andFinancial Markets.WAEMU Member States Indefinite To promote regional and
subregional integration in thestock exchange services sector
__________