World Trade pact is only the first step.(World Trade Organization's agreement on liberalization of international trade in financial services to benefit insurance companies)(Editorial)

National Underwriter Life & Health-Financial Services Edition, January, 1998

One of the best holiday gifts the U.S. insurance industry could have been given came in the form of the recently concluded World Trade Organization agreement to liberalize international trade in financial services.

The deal is rightfully being hailed as "historic" and sweeping by a wide range of American insurer groups. The Washington-based International Insurance Council, for example, said the deal "captures more than 98 percent of the world's insurance business in over 60 countries within system of binding foreign trade principles."

However, two key questions remain. One is whether the deal's implementation around the world will be accomplished with a minimum of friction and conflict. The second is whether U.S. insurers will actually take...

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