WTO agreement opens access to world markets. (World Trade Organization)

A new World Trade Organization (WTO) agreement on financial services will provide Canadian banks with increased market access and clearer rules for doing business overseas.

Negotiators finalized the agreement, which covers banking, insurance, securities and other financial services, in mid-December. Seventy countries representing 95% of the global financial-services market have signed onto the deal, which is scheduled to take effect Mar. 1, 1999.

The agreement presents Canadian banks with important new opportunities in countries where they seek to enter the market or expand their existing operations. The "emerging markets" of the Asia/Pacific and Latin American …