While trade liberalization is the major objective that the world trade regime pursues in the long-run, the desirable pace and mode of liberalization for each economy may vary. This is particularly the case for financial liberalization, which involves plenty of prudential concerns such as control...

Paragraph 2(a) of the Annex on Financial Services of the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS), known as the “GATS Prudential Exception”, plays a crucial role in connecting international trade laws and international financial laws. Commentators, however, are less satisfied with it....