The internationalisation of financial markets is a serious challenge facing regulato r s a nd policy makers.

Despite several attempts to deal with this new phenomenon , to date, the most universal a nd successful one came with the establishment of the Wo r ld Trade o r ganisation a nd its General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS). Indeed, the new WTO/Gats regime seeks to establish , amongst others, international rules fo r the regulation of trade in financial services. Mo r eover, it sets the scene fo r the liberalisation a nd further internationalisation of financial markets in an environment of transparency, certainty, a nd Rule of Law.

This book analyses the new regime fo r financial services established by the WTO a nd GATS fr om a Rule of Law perspective. It thus examines the extent to which this new regime satisfies the fo r mal elements of the Rule of Law.

With the broad range of issues covered spanning financial market liberalisation a nd problems of international law, this book can be a useful tool fo r bankers a nd other majo r players in the financial market, lawyers, economists, regulato r s a nd policy-makers.