By Kavaljit Singh and Myriam Vander Stichele | SOMO Paper | September 2009
The European Union (EU) and India are negotiating a free trade agreement (FTA) which encompasses liberalisation and deregulation of financial services. This paper wants
to raise policy issues that run much deeper than the current liberalisation debate and consider who will benefit and who will lose from the FTA. This paper first looks at the performance of EU banks in India, especially as compared to the developmental needs of the un-banked and under-banked regions and groups of people in India.
By Kavaljit Singh | Op-Ed, The Economic Times | April 7, 2009
Since 2007, India and European Union (EU) are negotiating a free trade agreement (FTA). The negotiations do not merely cover trade in goods but also include liberalisation of trade and investment in banking services. EU is seeking greater market access and national treatment for European banks through cross-border supply and direct investments.
Unlike other bilateral agreements, the potential implications of India-EU FTA would be far-reaching since nine EU-based banks together controlled 65% of total assets of foreign banks in India in 2008. By asset size,…
Since 2007, India and European Union (EU) are negotiating a free trade agreement (FTA). The negotiations not only cover trade in goods but also services, rules pertaining to intellectual property rights, cross-border investments, competition policy, government procurement and regulatory issues. One of the key themes under negotiation is the liberalization of cross-border trade and investment in banking services.
The 70-page Special Report questions the policy framework and objectives of opening up banking sector under the FTA. The report argues that…
By Kavaljit Singh | Commentary, VoxEU.org | November 20, 2008
French President Nicholas Sarkozy has proposed that European nations create sovereign wealth funds to protect national companies from foreign “predators.” This column says that idea is protectionist and without merit. Emerging economies establish sovereign wealth funds to invest foreign reserves or commodity revenue – not to bail out domestic firms and stifle global competition.
In a hard-hitting speech to the European Parliament in Strasbourg on October 21, French President Nicolas Sarkozy proposed that European countries create sovereign wealth funds to protect national companies from foreign “predators.” “I’m…
By Kavaljit Singh | Jointly Published by Madhyam and The Corner House, October 2008
Western politicians, business leaders and commentators seem paranoid about state-owned sovereign wealth funds (SWFs), particularly those from the Middle East and China. They fear that SWFs follow strategic political objectives — investing in Western companies and banks to secure control of strategically important industries such as telecommunications, energy and banking – rather than commercial interests.
A protectionist backlash against sovereign wealth funds is fast emerging: the US, Canada, Australia and Germany have introduced substantial legislative changes to screen and restrict…
