Dobson, W: Financial Services Liberalization in the WTO

The Asian financial crisis erupted partly because of weaknesses in the region's financial sectors. The crisis was moving at full steam while the financial services negotiations were being completed on December 12, 1997, in the World Trade Organization (WTO) in Geneva. There, the industrial and developing countries agreed to lock in a series of reforms that had already been achieved in many countries through unilateral action, regional cooperation, and, more recently, as a condition of IMF assistance.

Dobson and Jacquet discuss the WTO financial services negotiations and evaluate the agreement that emerged. They assess the impact of the agreement and the financial crisis on financial-sector liberalization in several important emerging-market economies. The authors explain remaining obstacles to establishing efficient and open financial sectors and conclude with a blueprint for liberalizing financial services in the future. Financial Services Liberalization in the WTO has been translated into Chinese and Greek by various publishers.