ISDS Case Map
finance | banking | taxes
East African trade ministers have thrown a new spanner in the works as the countdown to the December 31, 2007 deadline for signing a new trade partnership deal with the industrialized EU states narrows to less than 60 days. The ministers held a secret meeting in Nairobi away from the full glare of anti-globolisation activists and agreed to sign the contentious Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) only if an amendment ensuring that the region's taxation regime remained intact.
Singapore's refusal to soften its strict bank secrecy laws could scupper talks with Europe about a trade agreement, a European politician said on Tuesday.
The pending US trade agreement with Panama isn't really about trade. It's about foreign investor rights, money laundering, and tax dodging.
The Russian government presented three days ago a draft law stipulating that selling the shares of any strategic company to foreign investors is prohibited unless it is approved by a special governmental committee headed by the Prime Minister.
Canada and Chile marked the 10th anniversary of their free trade agreement Tuesday, vowing to expand the accord to financial services and other areas.
A panel of government trade experts was told in Washington today that approval of the US-Korea free trade agreement (FTA) would lead to new overseas demand for a wide range of US goods and services, in particular financial services.
Asian economic regionalism, driven by active FTAs, reached a decisive point recently as China, South Korea, Japan and ASEAN countries compromised on the plan for financial reserves to put the possible financial crisis under control.
The American Insurance Association recently strongly praised the work of US trade negotiators who successfully concluded their talks on a Free Trade Agreement with Korea that will provide significant commercial gains for both countries.
Qatar and the Netherlands may soon sign investment protection as well as double taxation avoidance agreements as part of efforts to improve economic and political relations between them.
The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) is on course to meet a 2010 deadline to form a monetary union, the UAE Central Bank Governor, Sultan bin Nasser Al Suwaidi, said yesterday. "There is no delay to forming a currency union," he said, speaking to reporters on the sidelines of an Islamic Banking Conference held in Dubai.
