RESTRICTED
WORLD TRADE S/FIN/W/12/Add.53
11December 1997
ORGANIZATION(97-5465)
Committee onTrade inFinancial Services Original: Spanish
COMMUNICATION FROM HONDURAS
Initial Offer onFinancial Services
Addendum
Thefollowing communication iscirculated attherequest ofHonduras toMembers ofthe
Committee onTrade inFinancial Services.
_______________
Thisoffer isanexpression ofHonduras 'swishtocontribute towards theobjectives ofthe
negotiations onfinancial services intheWorld Trade Organization (WTO). Itissubject tothefinal
satisfactory outcome ofthenegotiations. TheGovernment ofHonduras alsoreserves therighttomodify
orwithdraw allorpartofthecommitments, onthebasisoftheSecond Decision onFinancial Services
of21July1995, amended bytheDecision of29May1997, aswellastherighttointroduce technical
amendments, ifnecessary.S/FIN/W/12/Add.53
Page2HONDURAS
SCHEDULE OFSPECIFIC COMMITMENTS
Modes ofsupply: (1) Cross-border supply (2) Consumption abroad (3) Commercial presence (4) Presence ofnatural persons
Sector orsubsector Limitations onmarket access Limitations onnational treatment Additional commitments
7. FINANCIAL SERVICES
A. Allinsurance and
insurance-related services
Lifeinsurance
(CPC 81211)
General insurance
(CPC 81291-81299)
(includes: sickness,
accident, disaster, vehicle
andfreight, civilliability
andprofessional risks,
credit andtransport, and
other insurance services)(1) Unbound
(2) Unbound
(3) Theoperation ofinsurance institutions is
subject toapproval bytheCentral Bank
ofHonduras, inaccordance withgeneral
andlocal economic conditions and
requirements. Thisapproval willtake
intoconsideration, inter alia,amarket
survey showing thatthecurrent and
future conditions oftheinsurance market
permit thesatisfactory operation ofthe
company tobesetup.Thissurvey must
bebased onanalysis oftheprincipal
economic andfinancial variables ofthe
insurance system inHonduras orany
other model demonstrating theeconomic
feasibility oftheinstitution tobesetup.(1) Unbound
(2) Unbound
(3) NoneS/FIN/W/12/Add.53
Page3Modes ofsupply: (1) Cross-border supply (2) Consumption abroad (3) Commercial presence (4) Presence ofnatural persons
Sector orsubsector Limitations onmarket access Limitations onnational treatment Additional commitments
Reinsurance Only public limited companies withshare
capital andmutual companies mayengage
ininsurance activities. Inthecaseof
public limited companies withshare
capital, theshares must beregistered and
atleast 60percentoftheshare capital
must belong toHonduran nationals.
(4) Unbound (4) Unbound
Services auxiliary to
insurance
(CPC 81402-81409)
(including insurance and
pensions advisers,
settlement ofdamages,
actuarial services,
management ofsalvage
operations, andother
auxiliary services)(1) Unbound
(2) Unbound
(3) None
(4) Unbound(1) Unbound
(2) Unbound
(3) None
(4) Unbound
B. Banking services
Deposit-taking
(CPC 81116 and81119)
(Only sight deposits,
savings deposits andterm
deposits inlocal and
foreign currency)(1) Unbound
(2) Unbound(1) Unbound
(2) UnboundS/FIN/W/12/Add.53
Page4Modes ofsupply: (1) Cross-border supply (2) Consumption abroad (3) Commercial presence (4) Presence ofnatural persons
Sector orsubsector Limitations onmarket access Limitations onnational treatment Additional commitments
Granting ofloans
(CPC 81132)
(Only loans inlocal and
foreign currency)
(Excluding mortgages)
Factoring operations(3) Theestablishment offinancial institutions
issubject toapproval bytheCentral Bank
ofHonduras following arecommendation
bytheNational Banking andInsurance
Commission inaccordance withthe
economic conditions andneeds of
Honduras. Thisapproval willtakeinto
consideration, inter alia, amarket survey
showing thatunder present andfuture
conditions ofsupply anddemand for
financial services themarket hasroom for
theentry ofanewinstitution. The
foregoing must bebased onananalysis of
theprincipal economic andfinancial
variables contained inthenational
accounts, statistics andbasic indicators of
therealandfinancial sectors ofthe
domestic economy, without prejudice to
thesubmission andexplanation of
theoretical models thatreasonably provide
such ademonstration.(3) None, except thatthebranches of
foreign financial institutions must
domicile aminimum amount ofcapital
inHonduras.
Issue, acceptance, negotiation
andconfirmation ofcredit cards
anddocumentary creditForeign financial institutions mayoperate
inHonduras through legally established
branches orthrough theestablishment of
agencies. Unbound withregard tothe
opening ofbranches offoreign banks.
Theagencies offoreign financial
institutions maynotaccept funds in
Honduras.S/FIN/W/12/Add.53
Page5Modes ofsupply: (1) Cross-border supply (2) Consumption abroad (3) Commercial presence (4) Presence ofnatural persons
Sector orsubsector Limitations onmarket access Limitations onnational treatment Additional commitments
Allfinancial institutions must be
established asapublic limited company
withshare capital, which must bedivided
intoordinary registered shares.
Thefounding partners offinancial
institutions mayonlybenatural persons.
Financial institutions mayonlycarry out
theoperations theyarespecifically
authorized toundertake.
Theoperation, functioning, service and
issue ofanewfinancial product directly
related totheprofessional exercise of
banking andcredit aresubject toapproval
bytheNational Banking andInsurance
Commission.
Finance companies (other thanbanks and
savings andloanassociations) may
undertake theoperations authorized
subject totheamounts determined bythe
National Banking andInsurance
Commission.
Branches offoreign banks must have at
least two(2)representatives domiciled in
Honduras. These must have therequisite
authorization toactinHonduras andto
carry outandassume responsibility for
theoperations ofthebranch.S/FIN/W/12/Add.53
Page6Modes ofsupply: (1) Cross-border supply (2) Consumption abroad (3) Commercial presence (4) Presence ofnatural persons
Sector orsubsector Limitations onmarket access Limitations onnational treatment Additional commitments
Authorization isrequired forgranting
credits tonatural orlegal persons
domiciled abroad.
(4) Unbound, except asindicated inthe
horizontal section.(4) Unbound, except asindicated inthe
horizontal section.
Supply andtransfer offinancial
information, andprocessing of
financial dataandrelated
software, bysuppliers ofother
financial services(1) Unbound
(2) Unbound
(3) None
(4) Unbound(1) Unbound
(2) Unbound
(3) None
(4) UnboundS/FIN/W/12/Add.53
Page7HONDURAS
DRAFT LIST OFARTICLE II(MFN) EXEMPTIONS FOR FINANCIAL SERVICES
Sector orsubsector Description ofmeasure
indicating itsinconsistency
with Article IICountries towhich the
measure appliesIntended duration Conditions creating the
need fortheexemption
Financial services Monetary andfinancial
integration, freetransfer of
capital, facilitation ofthe
establishment andoperation of
banks andinsurance
companies, branches,
subsidiaries andother
financial entities.
Theopening ofbranches or
agencies offoreign banks may
besubject toreciprocity.Guatemala, ElSalvador,
Nicaragua, Costa Rica and
Panama.
AllcountriesIndefinite
IndefiniteCentral American integration
ofthefinancial sector.
Toreflect current Honduran
legislation.