Securities Industry Association Calls For Commercially Meaningful Financial Services Commitments In Doha Round - Knocking Down Capital Market Trade Barriers Is A “Win-Win” Situation

SIA) today testified before the House Financial Services Subcommittee on Domestic and International Monetary Policy, Trade and Technology. At the hearing, SIA President Marc Lackritz spoke of the urgent need for a commercially meaningful Doha Round financial services agreement.

“The evidence is clear: open economies are more likely to lift people out of poverty than economies that are stagnant and closed. And an open trading system for financial services is a win-win situation, bringing economic benefits to newly emerging economies while increasing jobs here at home and the services trade surplus,” Lackritz testified.

In anticipation of the Hong Kong Ministerial, set before the Doha Development Round, the industry is advocating key principles to promote open and fair international markets in debt and equity trading, securities underwriting and placement, asset management and advisory services:

Commercial Presence – securities companies should be permitted to establish or expand a commercial presence in the corporate form of choice
Cross-Border – securities companies should be permitted to provide services cross-border to sophisticated investors without establishing a local presence
National Treatment – foreign securities companies and their services should be afforded national treatment
Transparency – financial regulations should be developed, adopted, and enforced in a transparent, non-discriminatory manner
GATS Exceptions – the Model Schedule is subject to existing regulatory safeguards, including the prudential carve-out and the exception for measures restricting payments and transfers

“To fully achieve those objectives, the securities industry recently drafted a Model Schedule,” said Lackritz, “that would allow securities firms to serve their global customers more efficiently while safeguarding critical regulatory goals. The Doha Round negotiations offer Congress and the Administration another opportunity to secure open and fair access to foreign markets for U.S. firms and their clients.”

Lackritz’s full written testimony, as submitted to the committee, can be found here: http://www.sia.com/testimony/html/lackritz11-15-05.html