The GATS: A 'glimmer of hope' for a multilateral liberalization of financial services markets.

摘要

In 1986, the inclusion of trade in services, including financial services, into the multilateral GATT Uruguay Round on trade liberalization stood for the official worldwide recognition of services as being internationally tradable and important for national economies. The establishment of a General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS), as being an integral part of the new World Trade Organization (WTO), is the institutional manifestation of the increasing importance of the service industries in international trade.;Within a variety of services, the financial services, such as banking, play a crucial role in national economies. A functioning banking system, providing the domestic industry with the necessary flow of capital, equals stability, credibility and international competitiveness for a national economy.;Liberalization of international trade in financial services may further increase economic efficiency and the welfare of the consumer, but today liberal trade in financial services is still faced with various barriers, especially in the highly sensitive banking system. Natural barriers to cross-border trade in banking services were overcome by the increased tradability of services through new information and communication technologies. The GATS stands for the multilateral approach to overcoming the regulatory barriers to international trade in services. The worldwide opening of domestic banking markets to foreign banks, namely the provision of the right of establishment, is the main topic of liberalization with respect to the banking sector.;Aside from obvious structural shortcomings of the GATS, this multilateral liberalization approach is increasingly challenged by regional approaches. namely free-trade areas and customs unions. Furthermore, in the banking sector, as a reaction to the huge amount of bank failures and national economic crises, liberalization itself is challenged by a global tendency rather to re-regulate and to harmonize existing regulations than to further liberalize.;- ---.