Cover; Half-title page; Title page; Copyright page; Contents; Acknowledgements; Table of GATT panel reports; Table of WTO panel reports; Table of WTO Appellate Body reports; Table of cases of the Court of Justice of the European Union; Table of opinions of the Court of Justice of the European Union; General introduction; Part I Policy concerns underlying the regulation and liberalization of banking; 1 Introduction to Part I ; 2 The role of banks as intermediaries ; 2.1 Financial intermediaries as a response to market failures ; 2.2 The role of banks ; 3 The regulation of the banking sector. 3.1 Market failures 3.1.1 Market failures in services markets ; 3.1.2 Information asymmetries between depositors and banks ; 3.1.3 Contagion and systemic risk: the social costs of bank failures ; 3.1.4 Systemic risk caused by homogeneous reaction to macroeconomic events ; 3.2 Regulation and market discipline ; 3.2.1 Prudential regulation versus other types of banking regulation ; 3.2.2 Regulation based on market discipline ; 3.3 Conclusions on regulation of the banking sector ; 4 Liberalization in the banking sector ; 4.1 Competition in the banking sector. 4.1.1 Financial development and economic growth 4.1.2 Competition and efficiency ; 4.1.3 Competition and financial stability ; 4.2 Internationalization ; 4.2.1 Specific benefits of cross-border banking ; 4.2.2 Specific concerns relating to international banking ; 4.3 Conclusions on the liberalization of banking services ; 5 Conclusion to Part I ; Part II The international approach to liberalization of trade in banking services; 6 Introduction to Part II ; 7 Sources of international banking liberalization and regulation ; 7.1 The GATS and its annexes: relevant sources and further negotiations. 7.1.1 Uruguay Round documents 7.1.2 Post-Uruguay Round documents ; 7.2 Supervisory principles and regulatory standards of the Basel Committee ; 7.2.1 The Basel principles and standards on banking supervision ; 7.2.2 The Basel Capital Adequacy Framework ; 7.2.3 The legal status of the Basel principles and standards ; 8 Limitations on the right of WTO members to regulate the banking sector ; 8.1 Introduction ; 8.2 Banking regulation falling within the scope of the GATS ; 8.2.1 'Measures' ; 8.2.2 'Affecting' ; 8.2.3 'Trade in (financial) services' 8.2.4 Macroeconomic policy management and prudential measures 8.2.5 Conclusion on banking regulation and the scope of the GATS ; 8.3 GATS and market access ; 8.3.1 Introduction ; 8.3.2 Quantitative restrictions and absolute prohibitions ; 8.3.3 'Indistinctly applicable' measures ; 8.3.4 The overlap of Article XVI and Article XVII ; 8.3.5 Market access in the Understanding on Commitments in Financial Services ; 8.3.6 Conclusion on market access ; 8.4 GATS obligations based on discrimination ; 8.4.1 Introduction ; 8.4.2 Likeness and less favourable treatment.