RESTRICTED  
  
S/FIN/M/82  
 
14 October 2014  
(14-5838)  Page: 1/4  
Committee on Trade in Financial Services    
 
 REPORT OF THE MEETING HELD ON 18 SEPTEMBER 2014 
NOTE BY THE SECRETARIAT1 
The Committee on Trade in Financial Services held a meeting on 18 September 2014 under the 
Chairmanship of Ms Caroline McCarthy (Australia). The proposed agenda is contained in 
Airgram WTO/AIR/4346. An annotated agenda by the Chairperson had been issued on 
10 September (JOB/SERV/193). The Committee adopted the agenda. 
 
1  ITEM A - ACCEPTANCE OF THE FIFTH PROTOCOL TO THE GENERAL AGREEMENT ON 
TRADE IN SERVICES 
1.1.  The Chairperson recalled that Brazil was the only Member that had yet to accept the 
Fifth Protocol.  1.2.  The representative of Brazil said that there had been no developments on the internal 
procedures the acceptance of the Fifth Protocol since the last meeting.  
1.3.  The Chairperson encouraged Brazil to speed up the acceptance process. 
1.4.  The Committee took note of those statements and decided to revert to this agenda item at 
the next meeting. 
2  ITEM B - REGULATORY ISSU ES IN FINANCIAL SERVICES  
2.1.  The Chairperson informed that the Secretaria t had been following up on participation by the 
IMF and the Islamic Financial Services Board (IFSB) at a meeting of the Committee, so as to 
complete the Committee's review of recent developments in global financial regulatory reform and their implications for trade in financial services, which had commenced with presentations by the other international standard-setting bodies in Fe bruary this year. Unfortunately, neither the IMF 
nor the IFSB were able to attend this meeting. She added that the Secretariat would try to secure 
their participation at a future meeting. 
2.2.  The Chairperson also recalled that at the last meeting the Committee continued its 
consideration of the Communication from South Africa on the regulation of non-banking financial 
services (JOB/SERV/179). Specifically, South Africa replied to questions posed by Canada concerning the liability of credit rating agencies (CRAs); those replies were contained in a room 
document circulated by South Africa (RD/SERV/106). In addition, the Russian Federation had 
announced its intention to make a presentation at this meeting on the changes introduced to its institutional structure of financial regulation and supervision. However, due to unforeseen circumstances, the Russian Federation was not be in a position to make the presentation at this 
meeting.  
2.3.  The representative of Canada said that, as noted by the Chairperson in the annotated 
agenda, the Committee was indeed an appropriate forum for the exchange of information on 
regulatory aspects affecting financial services trade. In this regard, Canada suggested that the 
Committee extend an invitation to the OECD to pr esent the results of its work on the services 
                                               
1 This document has been prepared under the Secret ariat's own responsibility and is without prejudice 
to the positions of Members and to their rights and obligations under the WTO. S/FIN/M/82 
 
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  trade restrictiveness index (STRI) for the financial services sector. An overview of the STRI in the 
Committee, including anticipated changes to the financial services sector component and the regulations covered within the STRI, could stir an engaging discussion on the need to balance prudential regulation and liberalization. 
2.4.  The representative of India concurred that the discussion was focused on regulatory issues in 
financial services and that in that context standard-setting organizations had been invited. 
However, she noted that the OECD was not a regula tory body of the financial services sector. She 
requested further time to consult with her authorities before any invitation was extended to the 
OECD.  
2.5.  The representative of Switzerland did not have any objections to inviting the OECD. However, 
he sought further information regarding the country coverage of the STRI index.   
2.6.  The representative of Ecuador said his delegation would not oppose the OECD being invited 
to give a presentation, but would prefer to have more information before fully supporting the 
proposal.  
2.7.  The representative of Argentina echoed Ecuador's comments. 
2.8.  The Chairperson said that she would conduct informal consultations before any invitation was 
made, and would wait for India's feedback on th e proposal. In the meantime, and in order to 
support those consultations, she asked the Secretar iat to circulate the pertinent link to the OECD 
website so that Members might obtain further information on the STRI. 
2.9.  The Committee took note of the statements ma de and decided to revert to this agenda item 
at the next meeting. 
3  ITEM C - TRADE IN FINANC IAL SERVICES AND DEVELOPMENT 
3.1.  The Chairperson drew Members' attention to a room document circulated by China 
(RD/SERV/107), which provided further details on the proposal to organize a seminar on mobile 
banking.  
3.2.  The representative of China said that the room document had been prepared in light of the 
comments made by Members to the original proposal made orally by China. China proposed that 
the Committee organized a workshop, on the margins of the next Committee meeting, so as to (i) 
increase Members' knowledge and understanding of mobile banking, (ii) discuss the different business models adopted for the supply of mobile banking services; (iii) discuss the benefits and challenges raised by mobile banking, in particular the link with development and the regulatory 
challenges involved, and (iv) further discuss 'trade' issues raised by mobile banking and the role 
that trade policy in financial services (and the GATS in particular) may play in that regard. Ideally, the workshop should be held in November. It sh ould be a one-day event. The programme could be 
structured around four segments: first, presentations by scholars and international organizations 
with experience in mobile banking; second, presentations by private sector representatives active in the supply of mobile banking services, particularly in developing countries; third, presentations 
by national regulators; and, finally, a discussion on trade policy issues, with the participation of 
Members and the Secretariat. This last session would allow for further exploration of the 'trade' issues raised by mobile banking, and the role played by trade policy. Ideally, the workshop should provide a balance of perspectives developed and developing Members. Since the workshop would 
be held in one day, the number of the speakers per session should be no more than three, in order 
to reserve enough time for discussion.  
3.3.  The representative of Switzerland supported  the proposal by China. The structure proposed 
by China was appropriate. In his view, it was important to ensure diversity of opinion and views. 
Speakers should be limited to a manageable number. He would consult with his authorities and the industry to explore their availability to participate in the event. 
3.4.  The representative of Australia agreed wi th the structure of the programme proposed by 
China. However, she'd rather have the trade-related aspects covered in all the sessions and not 
just in the final one.  S/FIN/M/82 
 
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  3.5.  The representative of the European Union su pported the proposal by China. The EU would be 
willing to participate by volunteering a speaker fo r the session on regulatory aspects, and perhaps 
another one for the session on the industry's experience.  
3.6.  The representative of the United States su pported the programme proposed by China. In his 
view, it was important to ensure a balanced representation of views in each session. He would 
consult with his authorities and the industry to explor e their availability to participate in the event.  
3.7.  The representative of Turkey supported the proposal. She said that the programme should be 
constructed in a comprehensive manner, including the interaction of this sector with other services 
sectors, and their contribution to development.    
3.8.  The representative of Canada said that his delegation was generally supportive of enhanced 
discussions on the link between financial inclusion and trade in financial services, and therefore 
supported the workshop. He cautioned however that the programme should clearly link the topic of 
mobile banking with trade in financial services – the workshop should not focus only on the subject of mobile banking alone. Moreover, the workshop should consider issues of financial inclusion and 
access to financial services from a trade prospective, consistent with the Committee's mandate. 
One way to ensure this would be to focus on the policies and programmes –both domestic and international– that encourage trade in financial services and enhance access to financial services 
and financial inclusion, including through mobile banking. In this regard, he welcomed China's 
proposed objective to discuss the role that trade in financial services played in mobile banking – that should be the key focus of the seminar. In addition, in order to ensure a balanced 
representation of participants across sectors and Me mbers, he supported China's proposal to invite 
representatives from the private sector, international organizations and national regulators. 
Canada looked forward to contributing further input to the workshop. 
3.9.  The representative of Japan supported China's proposal. He suggested that issues related to 
consumer protection be also addressed.  3.10.  The representative of Nigeria also supported China's proposal. He stressed that it was 
important to ensure a balanced representation of Members. It would be very interesting to have 
presentations from African countries, who could share their experience with mobile banking. 
Finally, he concurred that trade policy aspects should be emphasized in the programme. 
3.11.  The representative of Republic of Korea welcomed the idea of organizing a seminar on 
mobile banking. He agreed that trade-related aspects should be highlighted.  
3.12.  The representative of Uruguay also supported the proposal. He suggested that prudential 
issues, as well as consumer protection, should be addressed in the seminar.  
3.13.  The representative of China said that his delegation would contribute a speaker for the 
session on regulatory issues. He encouraged least-developed Members, particularly from Africa, to 
also provide speakers for the seminar.  
3.14.  The Chairperson thanked Members for their suggestions and comments. In order to ensure 
that the seminar was held in November, she proposed that the Committee followed a written 
procedure for the adoption of the programme. Delegations wishing to suggest speakers should contact the Secretariat by Friday, 3 October. On th e basis of those suggestion s, and in light of the 
comments and suggestions made, the Secretariat would circulate a draft programme, if possible 
towards mid-October. Members would be given a reasonable period of time to raise any serious 
problem they might have with the draft programm e. If no problem or request of change was 
received by the deadline, the programme would be considered as agreed, and the Secretariat 
would proceed accordingly. In case any serious issue was raised, the Chairperson would conduct 
consultations.  
3.15.  The Committee took note of the statements made and agreed with the procedure suggested 
by the Chairperson.  S/FIN/M/82 
 
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  4  ITEM D - TECHNICAL ISSUES (CLASSIFICATION ISSUES) 
4.1.  The Chairperson recalled that at the last meeting, the Committee held a discussion on the 
issue of "new financial services" on the basis of a note by the Secretariat (JOB/SERV/187). An 
informal summary of those discussions had been prepared by the Chairperson (JOB/SERV/188).  
4.2.  As agreed in the past, the discussion under this item was held in informal mode. An informal 
summary would be circulated after the m eeting under the Chair's responsibility. 
4.3.  After the discussion, the Committee decided to revert to this agenda item at the next 
meeting. 
5  ITEM E - RECENT DEVELOPMENTS  IN FINANCIAL SERVICES TRADE 
5.1.  The Chairperson recalled that at the last meeting Ecuador had suggested that the Committee 
should further discuss the issue of regional pa yments and compensation systems, which were 
critical for trade in goods and services. He mentioned as examples the Reciprocal Payments and 
Credit Convention under the Latin American Integration Association (LAIA), and the SADC Integrated Regional Electronic Settlement System (SIRESS).  
5.2.  The representative of Ecuador said that his delegation still believed that a discussion about 
compensation systems and their role in trade in financial services would be for the benefit of all 
Members. Since some Members had suggested that the suggestion be circulated in writing, he said 
that his delegation was considering the possibili ty of putting forward a document providing a 
detailed description of the proposal.  
5.3.  The Chairperson thanked Ecuador for that initiative and encouraged Members to make good 
use of this agenda item to discuss any recent de velopment –at the national, regional or global 
levels – affecting trade in financial services. 
5.4.  The Committee took note of the statements ma de and decided to revert to this agenda item 
at the next meeting.  
6  ITEM F – OTHER BUSINESS 
6.1.  No issues were raised under this agenda item. 
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