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[20088]
June 6, 2006
TO: INTERNATIONAL COMMITTEE No. 15-06
RE: ICI ENCOURAGES TREASURY TO RENEW EFFORTS FOR FINANCIAL SERVICES
LIBERALIZATION
On Friday, June 2, the Institute joined eleven other associations in a letter to the US
Department of the Treasury underscoring the importance of the current round of trade negotiations to
the financial services sector and urging the G8 finance ministers to express a renewed commitment to
financial services liberalization at their upcoming meeting. A copy of the letter is attached.
The letter provided an opportunity for the Institute to reiterate certain core principles that it
advocates in the trade negotiations: full establishment rights, both in terms of juridical form and
ownership levels; non-discriminatory treatment; and the need for transparency in financial supervision
and regulation.
The letter also provided an opportunity to stress the importance of obtaining meaningful
commitments from China during the current round of trade negotiations. As you know, China
currently limits foreign firms to 49% ownership of local asset management companies. Seeking
liberalization of this limit on foreign ownership is one of the Institute’s highest trade priorities.
The Institute will participate in a series of meetings with WTO negotiators from July 11-13.
We intend to continue to stress our core principles for liberalization during those meetings, as well as
the need to remove specific barriers in the asset management sector, such as China’s 49% ownership
limit. If there are specific trade barriers that you would like us to raise with the WTO negotiators
during our meetings in July, please contact me (202-371-5430 or rcg@ici. o rg) or Glen Guymon
(202-326-5837 or gguymon@ici.org) before July 7.
Robert C. Grohowski
Senior Counsel - International Affairs
Attachment (in .pdf format)