The US-ASEAN Business Council’s Financial Service Working Group was created to facilitate engagement between the US private sector, particular those involved in banking and financial services, and ASEAN's banking and financial services policy makers.

The working group seeks to play pro active role in supporting the development of national and ASEAN-wide financial sector policies which promote sustained economic growth and broad based development. We believe that a central element in that agenda involves supporting the development and deepening of domestic capital markets by providing structural recommendations and encouraging human resource capacity building opportunities.

In keeping with the Council’s priorities the Working Group will also seek to encourage economic, financial, regulatory and judicial reforms in ASEAN. Specifically, efforts will be made to encourage development of a sound legal and regulatory infrastructure that enhances transparency and addresses governance concerns. It will also encourage ASEAN governments to liberalize their investment policies to include eliminating or reducing limits on foreign participation. Other issues like the adoption of new technology, easing restrictions on capital transfers, enhancing security, promoting transparency, and modernizing customs are also a part of the Working Group's agenda.

The Council's Financial Services web page represents our effort to continuously provide the best possible business briefing on ASEAN, by providing timely information, indepth resources and a platform for council members to highlight specific areas of interest in the areas of banking and financial services.

To learn more about the Council's Financial Services Working Group, please contact:
Marc Mealy
Coordinator, Financial Services Working Group
Senior Director, Brunei, Malaysia, and Philippines Affairs
mmealy@usasean.org

Please contact Marc Mealy at mmealy@usasean.org for upcoming Financial Services Working Group event in the works.

more upcoming events

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 ASEAN+3 Finance Ministers Joint Statement ASEAN Secretariat

 Standard & Poor's Creates ASEAN Ratings Scale Seeking Alpha, May 5

 ADB's Credit Guarantee and Investment Mechanism to Support Asia's Corporate Bond Market WSJ, May 4

 ASEAN+3 to Explore creating a Regional Bond Guarantee Facility  PhilStar, Apr 21

 ASEAN Nations Agree on Contributions to Emergency Fund Xinhua, Apr 10

Fact Sheet on ASEAN Stimulus Packages

The US-ASEAN Business Council has compiled a fact sheet on the value of stimulus packages that are available in ASEAN. Click here for the document (Council members only).

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2008 US-ASEAN Business Council Dialogue
with the
ASEAN Finance Ministers
(AFMM)

DaNang, Vietnam
April 2-3, 2008

The US-ASEAN Business Council led a delegation of senior executives from America’s premier financial institutions to the 2008 ASEAN Finance Ministers Meeting (AFMM) in DaNang, Vietnam April 2-4. The delegation comprised of representatives from AIG, Citibank, GE Money, State Street Bank & Trust, Standard & Poor’s and Visa was co-led by Council President Matthew Daley and Piyush Gupta, Head of Banking and Markets for ASEAN at Citibank and Chairman of the Council’s Financial Services Working Group.

In addition to a luncheon dialogue with the Ministers (1st pic), the delegation also held bilateral meetings with Minister Ninh, Minister of Finance of Vietnam (2nd pic); Governor Giau, Governor of the Central Bank of Vietnam (3rd pic); H.E. Surin Pitsuwan, Secretary General of ASEAN. Click here for the press release.

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2007 US-ASEAN Business Council Dialogue
with the
ASEAN Finance Ministers
(AFMM)

Chiang Mai
April 4-5, 2007

The Council's Financial Services Working Group (Citigroup, AIG, S&P, VISA, GE) are part of a U.S. business delegation at the 2007 AFMM. The delegation was led by Catherine Weir of Citigroup and had a 90 minute dialogue with the ten ASEAN finance ministers, a press conference, a bilateral meeting with the Thai Minister of Finance, and a meeting with the U.S. Treasury ASEAN Attaché. For a copy of the Issues Paper that the Council submitted to the Ministers during this dialogue, please click here (Council members only).

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