South Korea, for example, refused all U.S. demands for stronger commitments on letting foreign companies own banks and insurance companies. The new pact also could draw sharp criticism in Congress, where some lawmakers are already suspicious of the World Trade Organization, the international body that will oversee and enforce it. Many members of Congress are still angry about a tentative ruling by the trade organization rejecting Eastman Kodak Co.'s complaints about restrictions in the Japanese market. The new pact is less dramatic than many U.S. companies had hoped it would be. Nonetheless, the fact that it was signed at all was viewed with considerable relief, and proponents said the deal could provide the basis for reversing the tide of global pessimism that the Asia crisis has caused.
Recovery requires a huge amount of international cooperation and a sense of confidence.
Several of the biggest investment firms in the United States offered immediate praise for the pact. A lot is at stake. American banks and investment companies have been at the center of a worldwide expansion in financial services, from orchestrating huge corporate mergers to exporting American-style pension funds. International bond and stock offerings have doubled in the past five years alone, as companies from Daimler-Benz to France Telecom list their shares on multiple stock exchanges around the world. Against this backdrop, it was the Asian financial crisis that overshadowed most of the pact discussions.