<html><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><div style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin-top: 0in; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; "><o:p> </o:p></div><div style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin-top: 0in; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; "><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; "><a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/04/19/us-usa-uk-trade-financial-idUSBRE93I00P20130419" style="color: blue; text-decoration: underline; ">http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/04/19/us-usa-uk-trade-financial-idUSBRE93I00P20130419</a><o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin-top: 0in; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; "><b><span style="font-size: 24pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; ">U.S., UK want financial services as part of trade pact<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; ">By: Doug Palmer and Douwe Miedema<o:p></o:p></p><p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; ">April 18, 2013<o:p></o:p></p><p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; ">(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.<o:p></o:p></p><p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; ">The accord would aim to smooth out regulatory differences that have stunted U.S.-EU trade in areas such as agriculture, chemicals, <span class="mandelbrotrefrag"><a href="http://www.reuters.com/sectors/industries/overview?industryCode=160&lc=int_mb_1001" style="color: blue; text-decoration: underline; ">pharmaceuticals</a></span> and <span class="mandelbrotrefrag"><a href="http://www.reuters.com/subjects/autos?lc=int_mb_1001" style="color: blue; text-decoration: underline; ">autos</a></span>. The EU is already the largest U.S. trading partner.<o:p></o:p></p><p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; ">"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. <o:p></o:p></p><p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; ">He was speaking during an event at the National Foreign Trade Council, a U.S.-based <span class="mandelbrotrefrag"><a href="http://www.reuters.com/finance?lc=int_mb_1001" style="color: blue; text-decoration: underline; ">business</a></span> group.<o:p></o:p></p><p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; ">EU financial services chief Michel Barnier has also come out in favor of the move, a spokeswoman for the bloc said.<o:p></o:p></p><p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; ">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."<o:p></o:p></p><p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; ">Finding common ground on regulatory and market access issues could encourage <span class="mandelbrotrefrag"><a href="http://www.reuters.com/sectors/industries/overview?industryCode=128&lc=int_mb_1001" style="color: blue; text-decoration: underline; ">banks</a></span> and insurers to expand across the Atlantic instead of moving to other parts of the world.<o:p></o:p></p><p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; ">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 <span class="mandelbrotrefrag"><a href="http://www.reuters.com/sectors/industries/overview?industryCode=128&lc=int_mb_1001" style="color: blue; text-decoration: underline; ">banks</a></span> can hold in U.S. financial institutions, another UK diplomat said.<o:p></o:p></p><p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; ">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.<o:p></o:p></p><p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; ">The White House formally notified Congress in March of its plan to negotiate a comprehensive trade and investment agreement with the EU.<o:p></o:p></p><p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; ">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.<o:p></o:p></p><p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; ">But working groups from the U.S.-EU <span class="mandelbrotrefrag"><a href="http://www.reuters.com/finance?lc=int_mb_1001" style="color: blue; text-decoration: underline; ">business</a></span> 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.<o:p></o:p></p><p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; ">Talks on the free-trade pact are expected to begin in July, although no dates have been announced.<o:p></o:p></p><p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; ">Britain hopes the Group of Eight summit meeting in Northern <a href="http://www.reuters.com/places/ireland" title="Full coverage of Ireland" style="color: blue; text-decoration: underline; ">Ireland</a> in June can help set the stage.<o:p></o:p></p><p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; ">"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.<o:p></o:p></p><p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; ">(Reporting by Doug Palmer and Douwe Miedema, writing by Anna Yukhananov; Editing by Xavier Briand and Peter Cooney)<o:p></o:p></p><div style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin-top: 0in; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; "><o:p> </o:p></div></body></html>