Donald Riegle: “the second amendment that I am now proposing is the Fair Trade in Financial Services Act of 1994, which was recently…”

“the second amendment that I am now proposing is the Fair Trade in Financial Services Act of 1994, which was recently reported by the Banking Committee. Fair trade in financial services legislation has passed the Senate three times before. The amendment we are considering this morning was introduced on October 7, 1993, on a bipartisan basis by a majority of the members of the Banking Committee. It is designed to give U.S. negotiators new leverage to obtain the same equality of competitive opportunity for U.S. financial firms operating in foreign markets that we extend to foreign firms in our markets. On October 26, 1993, the committee held a hearing at which S. 1527 received united administration support, as well as support from the financial services industry. And on February 10, 1994, the committee reported out this legislation by a vote of 17 to 2. The act builds on provisions of the 1988 Omnibus Trade and Competitiveness Act that require the Treasury Department to identify countries that deny U.S. financial firms de facto national treatment, meaning equality of competitive opportunity and effective market access.”