[CTC] Request for Comments Concerning Proposed Transatlantic Trade and Investment Agreement

[Arthur Stamoulis]

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/04/19/us-usa-uk-trade-financial-idUSBRE93I00P20130419
U.S., UK want financial services as part of trade pact
By: Doug Palmer and Douwe Miedema

April 18, 2013

(Reuters) - The United States and the UK aim to include financial  
services in a proposed free-trade agreement between Washington and the  
27-nation European Union, the British ambassador to the United States  
said on Thursday.

The accord would aim to smooth out regulatory differences that have  
stunted U.S.-EU trade in areas such as agriculture, chemicals,  
pharmaceuticals and autos. The EU is already the largest U.S. trading  
partner.

"We are pretty keen, pretty clear, that as the owners of the two most  
significant international financial centers, on either side of the  
Atlantic ... that we would both like to see financial services covered  
by these negotiations," said Peter Westmacott, the UK ambassador to  
the United States.

He was speaking during an event at the National Foreign Trade Council,  
a U.S.-based business group.

EU financial services chief Michel Barnier has also come out in favor  
of the move, a spokeswoman for the bloc said.

A Treasury Department official said, "The United States will seek to  
obtain improved market access for services on a comprehensive basis,  
including for financial services."

Finding common ground on regulatory and market access issues could  
encourage banks and insurers to expand across the Atlantic instead of  
moving to other parts of the world.

The agreement would likely address issues such as what percentage of  
people on the board of a foreign bank need to be U.S. citizens, and  
what stake foreign banks can hold in U.S. financial institutions,  
another UK diplomat said.

Thornier problems would have to be dealt with separately, the diplomat  
said, such as derivatives regulation and the challenge of "too big to  
fail" banks.

The White House formally notified Congress in March of its plan to  
negotiate a comprehensive trade and investment agreement with the EU.

That letter outlined the administration's desire to negotiate new  
market openings for U.S. services companies and to improve regulatory  
cooperation across the Atlantic. It did not specifically mention  
financial services sectors such as banking or insurance.

But working groups from the U.S.-EU business coalition are already  
looking at market access barriers and regulatory issues related to  
insurers and banks and considering comments from companies, a U.S.  
business official said.

Talks on the free-trade pact are expected to begin in July, although  
no dates have been announced.

Britain hopes the Group of Eight summit meeting in Northern Ireland in  
June can help set the stage.

"We think it might be sensible drawing the world's attention to the  
importance of (the trade pact) before, during or after the G8  
summit ... that might be a good time to get it all going," Westmacott  
said.

(Reporting by Doug Palmer and Douwe Miedema, writing by Anna  
Yukhananov; Editing by Xavier Briand and Peter Cooney)

  
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