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Fair trade in financial services : hearing before the Subcommittee on International Development, Finance, Trade, and Monetary Policy of the Committee on Banking, Finance, and Urban Affairs, House of Representatives, One Hundred Third Congress, first sessi PDF

66 Pages·1994·1.8 MB·English
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Preview Fair trade in financial services : hearing before the Subcommittee on International Development, Finance, Trade, and Monetary Policy of the Committee on Banking, Finance, and Urban Affairs, House of Representatives, One Hundred Third Congress, first sessi

FAIR TRADE IN FINANCIAL SERVICES Y4.B 22/1:103-96 ING Fair Trade in Financial Services. S. . . THE SUBCOMMITTEE ON INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT, FINANCE, TRADE AND MONETARY POLICY OF THE COMMITTEE ON BANKING, FINANCE AND URBAN AFFAIRS HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES ONE HUNDRED THIRD CONGRESS FIRST SESSION NOVEMBER 9, 1993 Printed for the use of the Committee on Banking, Finance and Urban Affairs Serial No. 103-96 4 %^ '^^i'\ ^%,. U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 73-934±=; WASHINGTON : 1994 ForsalebytheU.S.GovemmentPrintingOffice SuperintendentofDocuments,CongressionalSalesOffice.Washington.DC 20402 ISBN 0-16-043691-5 FAIR TRADE IN FINANCIAL SERVICES M.B 22/1; 103-96 ING air Trade in Financial Services, S. . . THE SUBCOMMITTEE ON INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT, FINANCE, TRADE AND MONETARY POLICY OF THE COMMITTEE ON BANKING, FINANCE AND URBAN AFFAIRS HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES ONE HUNDRED THIRD CONGRESS FIRST SESSION NOVEMBER 9, 1993 Printed for the use of the Committee on Banking, Finance and Urban Affairs Serial No. 103-96 '>-i ^4y U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 73-934S5 WASHINGTON : 1994 ForsalebytheU.S.GovernmentPrintingOffice SuperintendentofDocuments,CongressionalSalesOffice,Washington,DC 20402 ISBN 0-16-043691-5 HOUSE COMMITTEE ON BANKING, FINANCE AND URBAN AFFAIRS HENRY B. GONZALEZ, Texas, Chairman STEPHEN L. NEAL, North Carolina JAMES A. LEACH, Iowa JOHN J. LaFALCE, New York BILL McCOLLUM, Florida BRUCE F. VENTO, Minnesota MARGE ROUKEMA, New Jersey CHARLES E. SCHUMER, New York DOUG BEREUTER, Nebraska BARNEY FRANK, Massachusetts THOMAS J. RIDGE, Pennsylvania PAUL E. KANJORSKL Pennsylvania TOBY ROTH, Wisconsin JOSEPH P. KENNEDY II, Massachusetts ALFRED A. (AD McCANDLESS, California FLOYD H. FLAKE, New York RICHARD H. BAKER, Louisiana KWEISI MFUME, Maryland JIM NUSSLE, Iowa MAXINE WATERS, California CRAIG THOMAS, Wyoming LARRY LaROCCO, Idaho SAM JOHNSON, Texas BILL ORTON, Utah DEBORAH PRYCE, Ohio JIM BACCHUS, Florida JOHN LINDER, Georgia HERBERT C. KLEIN, New Jersey JOE KNOLLENBERG, Michigan CAROLYN B. MALONEY, New York RICK LAZIO, New York PETER DEUTSCH, Florida ROD GRAMS, Minnesota LUIS V. GUTIERREZ, Illinois SPENCER BACHUS, Alabama BOBBY L. RUSH, Illinois MIKE HUFFINGTON, California LUCILLE ROYBAL-ALLARD, California MICHAEL CASTLE, Delaware THOMAS M. BARRETT, Wisconsin PETER KING, New York ELIZABETH FURSE, Oregon NYDIA M. VELAZQUEZ, New York BERNARD SANDERS, Vermont ALBERT R. WYNN, Maryland CLEO FIELDS, Louisiana MELVIN WATT, North Carolina MAURICE HINCHEY, New York CALVIN M. DOOLEY, California RON KLINK, Pennsylvania ERIC FINGERHUT, Ohio Subcommittee on International Development, Finance, Trade and Monetary Policy BARNEY FRANK, Massachusetts, Chairman STEPHEN L. NEAL, North Carolina DOUG BEREUTER, Nebraska JOHN J. LaFALCE, New York ALFRED A. (AD McCANDLESS, California JMOASXEIPNHEPW.AKTEENRSN,EDCaYliIfIo,rMniaassachusetts BMIALRLGMEcCROOLULKUEMM,A,FloNreidwaJersey LARRY LaROCCO, Idaho SAM JOHNSON, Texas BILL ORTON, Utah MICHAEL HUFFINGTON, California JIM BACCHUS, Florida PETER KING, New York HENRY B, GONZALEZ, Texas RICHARD H. BAKER, Louisiana PAUL E. KANJORSKI, Pennsylvania JIM NUSSLE, Iowa BOBBY L. RUSH, Illinois MICHAEL CASTLE, Delaware CLEO FIELDS, Louisiana MELVIN WATT, North Carolina BERNARD SANDERS, Vermont ERIC FINGERHUT, Ohio (II) CONTENTS Page Hearing held on: November 9, 1993 1 Appendix: November9, 1993 23 WITNESSES Tuesday, November 9, 1993 LaWare, John P., Member, Board ofGovernors, Federal Reserve System 6 Pozen, Robert, General Counsel and Managing Director, Fidelity Investments, on behalfofthe Investment Company Institute 17 Price, John, Managing Director, Chemical Bank, on behalf of the Bankers Association for Foreign Trade and the American Bankers Association 15 Schumer, Hon. Charles E., a Representative in Congress from the State of New York 2 Summers, Lawrence, Under Secretary for International Affairs, U.S. Depart- ment oftheTreasury 4 APPENDIX Prepared statements: Bereuter, Hon. Douglas 24 Ackerman, Hon. Gary L 25 Schumer, Hon. Charles E 27 LaWare, John P 37 Pozen, Robert 52 Price, John 45 Summers, Lawrence 30 (III) FAIR TRADE IN FINANCIAL SERVICES TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 1993 House of Representatives, Subcommittee on International Development, Finance, Trade and Monetary Policy, Committee on Banking, Finance and Urban Affairs, Washington, DC. The subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, at 2 p.m., in room 2128, Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. Barney Frank [chair- man ofthe subcommittee] presiding. Present: Chairman Frank, Representatives Bereuter, McCand- less, and Huffington. Also present: Representative Charles E. Schumer. Chairman Frank. We ran into a little bit of confusion here be- cause the full Banking Committee's hearing on the Banca Nazion- ale Del Lavoro is still going on. That put us in a competition for Members. We will be starting as soon as the second member gets here for the official part ofthe hearing. But our colleague, Mr. Schumer, has joined us. He, as the rest of us, has conflicting legislative business. So we will begin this hear- ing now even though there is not a quorum of the subcommittee present. But we do want to get Mr. Schumer's testimony in the record. By the time he has concluded, we will have our second member so we can proceed with the other witnesses. This is a hearing on the question of fair trade in financial serv- ices. Legislation has been filed in the Senate by Senator Riegle and here in the House by Congressman Schumer. And we are proceed- ing with hearings. It would be my intention, after consultation with the other mem- bers after this hearing, to try to begin the actual marking up proc- ess between now and the time of congressional adjournment. There is no way we can get beyond the subcommittee markup stage, but this is important legislation that has a great deal of appeal to Members ofCongress. I would like us to move now. To some extent the GATT negotia- tions will determine both the need for and, if the need continues, the form for this bill and what may well be the case is that we will come back here when we get to work in February and want to make it a very high priority. The best way to deal with that, I think, is to start before we ad- journ, have a subcommittee markup and then be ready to take this bill up in the full Banking Committee as one of the first orders of business next year to the extent and in the form that the state of (1) the GATT negotiations and other international negotiations would dictate. That is my current intention. With that I will call on my colleague, Mr. Schumer. STATEMENT OF HON. CHARLES E. SCHUMER, A REPRESENTA- TIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF NEW YORK Mr. Schumer. Thank you, Chairman Frank. I want to thank you and the subcommittee for holding hearings on this act. As you know, this legislation was introduced by myself along with Jim Leach and Pete Stark. Senator Riegle introduced identi- cal legislation in the Senate. They are scheduled to mark up the bill on November 18. The administration, as I understand it, is supportive ofthis legis- lation. So, we are finally moving forward with both branches of government in support of a bicameral, bipartisan effort to solve one of our most pressing trade problems, the continued unfair treat- ment, either by de facto or de jure means, of U.S. financial institu- tions in foreign markets. Let me add, I am pleased that United States negotiators are working to secure a new and balanced trade arrangement with Japan; but I am not yet convinced these negotiations, which began last June, will bring about the fundamental change necessary in the United States-Japan economic relationship. While I commend the administration for identifying financial services as a top priority in these bilateral negotiations, this legis- lation should give the United States added negotiating leverage. Let me say, basically, my view has been one that favors free trade, that each country which does best should be able to predomi- nate. While I think in the area of financial services, whether it is banking or securities or insurance, our country happens to be the best in the world in terms of technology, sales, marketing, and so forth. But somehow in this area we get nowhere, and it is particularly troublesome with countries that have huge trade surpluses with us. When you meet with representatives of Japan they say, well, our goods sell so well in the United States, our cars and our electronic goods, because we do them better. The same should apply. Unfortunately, it has not. We have been basically closed out, by both de facto and dejure means, ofthe Jap- anese market. I learned this early on with the Primary Dealers Act back in 1986. Many Japanese banking and securities firms wanted to become primary dealers to sell United States Government securi- ties. Yet, the anomaly was that, while they were applying to be pri- mary dealers, their own country was keeping the American firms out in the most rudimentary ways. American firms, for instance, could not be on the Tokyo Stock Exchange. I introduced legislation based on this principle of reciprocity and eWveerpyubsohdeydsatihd,e dloeng'itsldatoioitn, tthheryouwgohn'wtitbhuyyoouurr sbuopnpdosr,t,anMdr.soCfhoaritrh-. man, and the support of Senator Riegle in the Senate; and, lo and behold, American firms were allowed on the stock exchange and things began to loosen up a little bit. Unfortunately, it seems to me that, at least in this—area, unless you are really strong and really tough and tell people tell partic—u- larly those countries that practice what I call predatory trade that if you simply continue the status quo, there are going to be sanctions against you. If you don't do that, nothing happens. This bill is an attempt to do that in a fair and reasonable and rational way. I think it is overdue and needed. I want to thank you, Mr. Chairman, for scheduling this hearing and for preparing to move the bill. I think it would help a great deal in strengthening no<- only U.S. jobs but in strengthening the basic attitude offree trade which is now running into some difficul- ties. To me, the greatest difficulty we face in the fre—e trade area is exactly wh—en countries that are relatively open we have our faults, too but relatively open like the United States, have good products and cannot sell them. Chairman Frank. I have a hard time understanding what the negative arguments would be. This is a case where we are saying we would like it to be open; and, in fact, it seems to me the case is that this is an opener. We are likely to get the kind ofgenuine free trade in financial services that we want with this bill than without it. I think that it is increasingly an important strain in the world that you have to be willing to treat people reciprocally if you are going to get movement in—the right direction. My intention would be—there are other subcommittees that have jurisdictions overlapping but after some consultation I would hope we can move this forward. And I think many of us would agree, the right kind of negotiations could either make this unnecessary, or more likely, they could alter the form in which it was necessary or it could cover some countries and not other countries. But there is clearly a case for going forward. Mr. McCandless. Mr. McCandless. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I am kind of catch- ing a train as it pulls out of the station here, having been involved in extradition for the last 2 hours. I will be a good listener. Chairman Frank. The Chair commends the gentleman. The second member having arrived, I will note for the record that this has now become an official hearing. We will take Mr. Schumer's statement and make it a part of the record. The attend- ance ofMr. McCandless will also be part ofthe record. Thank you. We will consult with you as a member ofthe subcom- mittee on how we can go forward. Next we have a panel with Under Secretary Summers and Gov- ernor LaWare from the Federal Reserve. I am very pleased to note that my district is especially well represented by a former resident of Brookline and another of Newton, the only two communities thaWtehawivlel sbteugciknwwiitthhmUendtehrroSuegchrevtaarriyouSsumrmedeirsstr.icting. STATEMENT OF LAWRENCE SUMMERS, UNDER SECRETARY FOR INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY Mr. Summers. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. It is an honor to be one of your constituents. I am happy to be here to discuss the Fair Trade in Financial Services Act of 1993 introduced by Congressmen Schumer and Leach. Before I begin, I would like to thank the sponsors of this bill and the subcommittee for their efforts in forwarding this important leg- islation. We believe the Fair Trade in Financial Services legislation will give us a carefully crafted tool for balancing three key goals: Open- ing markets abroad; preserving regulator stability to ensure safety and soundness; and forwarding our domestic interest in maintain- ing a competitive financial market here in the United States. I am here today to carry out Secretary Bentsen's commitment to work with the supporters of fair trade legislation on an appropriate policy. The administration supports fair trade in financial services for one reason. We want to use it to open foreign markets so U.S. fi- nancial firms can compete abroad on equal competitive terms as foreign firms can do here. The United States has one of the most open financial markets in the world. Once foreign firms establish here, we provide them es- sentially the same competitive opportunities as U.S. firms. In contrast, United States firms still face extensive formal and informal barriers in developing countries, in Latin America, Asia, and in Japan. We consider fair trade in financial services to be an essential complement to our Uruguay Round strategy of encouraging greater liberalization in financial services worldwide. The statute would add credibility to our current negotiating position. In the event we fail to receive sufficient commitments in the GATT, the legislation will give us needed leverage in future negotiations. Our goal, our access to and ability to compete in many foreign markets, did not improve commensurately with the growth and emergence ofthose markets in the 1980's. Legal barriers are legion. De facto barriers often prevent foreign firms from full participa- tion in foreign markets even when there are not legal barriers. The nature of these barriers is described in detail in the prepared state- ment I submitted for the record. Fair trade in financial services looks to the future, giving us a credible, flexible, and practical tool to level the playing field. It not only would track our Uruguay round approach, it would extend our ability to pursue financial market liberalization beyond December 15 by means tailored to the unique characteristics of the financial services industry. Let me explain. In the round we have stated our commitment to achieving a multilateral agreement on a nondiscriminatory basis. We want to open foreign markets, not to close our own. We have said that unless and until we are able to negotiate adequate com- mitments from other countries, we will not lock our markets open to free riders; we will maintain an MFN exemption if necessary.

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