Liberalizing Financial Services and Foreign Direct Investment

LAURA PÁEZ works for the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, based in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. She deals with issues of trade and international negotiations such as the Doha Development Round and Economic Partnership Agreements, the Aid for Trade Initiative and regional integration in the context of the Regional Economic Comunities (RECs). Prior to her UN appointment, she worked for the Latin American and Caribbean Economic System (SELA) and was university professor at master level, lecturing on international economics and trade negotiations issues. The author has conducted extensive research on the regulatory impact of financial services liberalization, regionalism in the Americas, foreign direct investment and trade liberalization. She has also worked as a consultant for the World Bank, and lectured on the WTO Trade Policy Course, training officials on trade negotiations from all over the world.

Introduction Understanding Foreign Direct Investment Applying FDI Theory to Commercial Banking Multilateral Rules on Financial Services and FDI GATS Financial Services Liberalization in OECD Members Assessing FDI Determinants in Commercial Banking Conclusions