Columbia International Affairs Online: Policy Briefs

CIAO DATE: 03/2014

Financial Services in the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership

Simon Johnson, Jeffrey J. Schott

October 2013

Peterson Institute for International Economics

Abstract

The Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) can deepen the already substantial ties that bind the United States and the European Union in the world's largest economic and strategic alliance. Since both sides have included financial services in prior trade pacts, they implicitly recognized that the TTIP would also cover this sector. But what will be included in the financial services chapter is still subject to debate. Particular concerns arise about how the TTIP could impact the still unsettled European financial reforms and the introduction of new US rules pursuant to the Dodd-Frank legislation of 2010 or other potential US regulatory initiatives. The authors believe that the TTIP can complement the extensive efforts already in train in financial forums by making regulatory policies more transparent and by creating opportunities for trade and investment in financial services in both markets. A broader role for TTIP in harmonizing financial regulation is not an appealing idea—and not one that sits well with current US official thinking.