WASHINGTON–Financial services firms, including insurers, are seeing Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson off on his trip to China with a White Paper, which asks him to ensure increased market access to China for financial services firms in the United States.
The White Paper also requests that Secretary Paulson persuade the Chinese to comply with international trade agreements.
Mr. Paulson is leading a government contingent to China to see if the Chinese will increase access to their markets as well as allow their currency to float, which would help America increase its exports to China.
“China has made progress on insurance, but there are still barriers to full market access and foreign companies are still being treated differently on some issues,” explained David Snyder, vice president and assistant general counsel at the American Insurance Association.
“We are working in many ways to clear away these obstacles,” Mr. Snyder said. In some cases, “these obstacles may be WTO [World Trade Organization] compliance issues, including a recent regulation providing special treatment for Chinese reinsurers.”
The AIA is presenting the paper to lawmakers on Capitol Hill, as well as to Mr. Paulson and other administration officials.
A fact sheet released by the AIA and the other groups notes that, “As China enters the next stage in its growth, an efficient, competitive financial services sector, open to foreign competition, will be essential to the services-focused and consumer-driven economic growth China's leaders seek.”
Expanding access to the Chinese market for U.S. financial services firms will help accelerate economic modernization and growth, the paper adds.
The paper also argues, “Foreign institutions bring world-class expertise and best practices with regard to products and services, credit analysis, risk management, internal controls, and corporate governance.”
In addition, the paper adds, “the competition brought by foreign institutions would accelerate the adoption of such techniques and methodologies by domestic financial institutions.”
Insurance trade groups that are part of the coalition include the AIA, the American Council of Life Insurers and the Council of Insurance Agents & Brokers.
Other groups include the Financial Services Forum, American Bankers Association, The Financial Services Roundtable, Investment Company Institute, and the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association.
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