FROM THE OFFICE OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS
April 6, 2005
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Financial Services Working Group to Aid Efforts of SPP
President George W. Bush joined Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin and Mexico's President, Vicente Fox, on March 23, 2005 to announce the Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America (SPP), a trilateral effort to increase security and to enhance prosperity among the United States, Canada and Mexico through greater cooperation and information-sharing.
The SPP is based on the principle that prosperity is dependent on security, and recognizes that these three great nations are bound by a shared belief in freedom, economic opportunity and strong democratic institutions.
The SPP will help integrate security efforts to better protect citizens from terrorism and promote the safe and efficient movement of people and goods. Additionally, the SPP will expand economic opportunities for the people of the U.S., Canada and Mexico by making businesses and the business environment more competitive in the global market place. It will also enhance mutual efforts to protect the environment, improve food safety and consumer choice, improve abilities to combat infectious disease and develop responses to cross-border man-made or natural disasters.
The SPP will complement ongoing efforts, such as the Partnership for Prosperity and the Smart Border Accord, and will help promote the safe movement of people and goods within North America. The Partnership also helps protect our continent from transnational threats, such as terrorism, organized crime, smuggling and trafficking.
Agencies throughout the U.S. Government, including the Departments of Treasury, Commerce and State, the United States Trade Representative and U.S. financial regulatory agencies will play a critical role in the SPP. Notably, Randy Quarles, the Treasury's Assistant Secretary for International Affairs, has been selected to chair the SPP's Financial Services Working Group (FSWG).
The FSWG will focus on enhancing processes for addressing banking, securities and insurance issues. U.S. representatives of the FSWG will first meet among themselves to further develop these views, and then with their Canadian and Mexican counterparts to expand and move forward on these efforts. The FSWG will reach out to the private sectors and legislatures in the three countries to ensure their interests and concerns are appropriately reflected in the working plan compiled by the FSWG.
The FSWG has already achieved consensus on several areas critical to all three countries, including:
· Well-developed, efficient capital markets are essential for economic growth and national security;
· The identification and discussion of issues in regard to banking, securities and insurance will further facilitate the free flow of capital and the efficient provision of financial services throughout the three countries; and
· Financial regulators play an important role in addressing many issues important to the FSWG, and therefore participation by the regulators is critical.
The Financial Services Working Group, together with other trilateral working groups, will develop a work plan by June 23, 2005 to begin moving forward on its important duties to help bolster the overall success of the SPP.
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