NEW: WikiLeaked Doc Reveals Wall Street Plan for Global Financial Deregulation

[KoKo]

Published on Thursday, June 19, 2014 by Common Dreams

WikiLeaks releases draft text of trade deal exposing efforts to increase stranglehold over global economy
- Common Dreams staff
WikiLeaks published a previously tightly-held and secretive draft of a trade document on Thursday that, if enacted, would give the world's financial powers an even more dominant position to control the global economy by avoiding regulations and public accountability.

Known as a Trade in Services Agreement (TISA), the draft represents the negotiating positions of the U.S. and E.U. and lays out the deregulatory strategies championed by some of the world's largest banks and investment firms.

According to WikiLeaks:

Despite the failures in financial regulation evident during the 2007-2008 Global Financial Crisis and calls for improvement of relevant regulatory structures, proponents of TISA aim to further deregulate global financial services markets. The draft Financial Services Annex sets rules which would assist the expansion of financial multi-nationals – mainly headquartered in New York, London, Paris and Frankfurt – into other nations by preventing regulatory barriers. The leaked draft also shows that the US is particularly keen on boosting cross-border data flow, which would allow uninhibited exchange of personal and financial data.

TISA negotiations are currently taking place outside of the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) and the World Trade Organization (WTO) framework. However, the Agreement is being crafted to be compatible with GATS so that a critical mass of participants will be able to pressure remaining WTO members to sign on in the future. Conspicuously absent from the 50 countries covered by the negotiations are the BRICS countries of Brazil, Russia, India and China. The exclusive nature of TISA will weaken their position in future services negotiations.

Lori Wallach, director of Public Citizen's Global Trade Watch, said the deal described in the draft, if approved by national governments, would be a disaster for any regulatory efforts designed to put a check on global finance.

In a statement responding to the TISA draft released by WikiLeaks on Thursday, Wallach said:

“If the text that was leaked today went into force, it would roll back the improvements made after the global financial crisis to safeguard consumers and financial stability and cement us into the extreme deregulatory model of the 1990s that led to the crisis in the first place and the billions in losses to consumers and governments.

"This is a text that big banks and financial speculators may love but that could do real damage to the rest of us. It includes a provision that is literally called ‘standstill’ that would forbid countries from improving financial regulation and would lock them into whatever policies they had on the books in the past.”

_______________________________________
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 License.

http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2014/06/19-2

[L0oniX]

1. This is what they mean by "too big to fail". They are making moves to be above any law.

[SamKnause]

2. Thank you WikiLeaks.

[JDPriestly]

12. Yes. Thank you Wikileaks.

[cantbeserious]

3. Thank You For Sharing

eom

[Warpy]

4. That would last about six months--a year, tops

Countries that see their wealth being drained away will soon enact tariffs and (if they're big countries) trade blockades. The whole mess will be a clusterfuck in no time at all as countries experiencing the greater losses try to disentangle themselves while the big banksters duke it out to see who gets to be the whole top of the dungheap.

Shoot, maybe we'll have to go back to barter for a while, not looking forward to that.

[arcane1]

5. That's why they want these trade partnerships like TPP, to supercede local laws.

I'm starting to think "invasion by aliens" would be an improvement.

[Warpy]

7. It would still break down completely as treasuries were drained away

The great lesson of the last century is that no matter how little people have, they will fight to the death to keep it.

[arcane1]

8. Quite true!

[zeemike]

10. I wold like to think that is true.

But I am not so sure it is at least for them...I feel sure they are sure that they can control the little people just fine...they sure do it here.

[antigop]

6. related thread here....

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1014&pid=829628

[father founding]

9. The Shadow lurks

Is "Wall Street" the new euphemism for another group now ?

[JDPriestly]

11. Another trade agreement that would very specifically overrule and nullify an important provision

in our Constitution.

Under Article I, section 8,

The Constitution authorizes Congress

"To regulate commerce with foreign nations, and among the several states, and with the Indian tribes;"

Here is the text of the relevant part of Article I, section 8. These days, we cannot read the Constitution often enough. Our government ignores it.

The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts and excises, to pay the debts and provide for the common defense and general welfare of the United States; but all duties, imposts and excises shall be uniform throughout the United States;

To borrow money on the credit of the United States;

To regulate commerce with foreign nations, and among the several states, and with the Indian tribes;

To establish a uniform rule of naturalization, and uniform laws on the subject of bankruptcies throughout the United States;

To coin money, regulate the value thereof, and of foreign coin, and fix the standard of weights and measures;

To provide for the punishment of counterfeiting the securities and current coin of the United States;

To establish post offices and post roads;

To promote the progress of science and useful arts, by securing for limited times to authors and inventors the exclusive right to their respective writings and discoveries;

To constitute tribunals inferior to the Supreme Court;

To define and punish piracies and felonies committed on the high seas, and offenses against the law of nations;

To declare war, grant letters of marque and reprisal, and make rules concerning captures on land and water;

To raise and support armies, but no appropriation of money to that use shall be for a longer term than two years;

To provide and maintain a navy;

To make rules for the government and regulation of the land and naval forces;

To provide for calling forth the militia to execute the laws of the union, suppress insurrections and repel invasions;

To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining, the militia, and for governing such part of them as may be employed in the service of the United States, reserving to the states respectively, the appointment of the officers, and the authority of training the militia according to the discipline prescribed by Congress;

To exercise exclusive legislation in all cases whatsoever, over such District (not exceeding ten miles square) as may, by cession of particular states, and the acceptance of Congress, become the seat of the government of the United States, and to exercise like authority over all places purchased by the consent of the legislature of the state in which the same shall be, for the erection of forts, magazines, arsenals, dockyards, and other needful buildings;--And

To make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into execution the foregoing powers, and all other powers vested by this Constitution in the government of the United States, or in any department or officer thereof.

http://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/articlei

The American people would be fools to sign on to such an agreement.

[Enthusiast]

14. +1 again.

An entire shit load.

[DeSwiss]

13. We should just replace......

...the words Conspiracy Theory with: ''The Evening News.''

Actually it's one of their better ploys. This way they can openly plan our subjugation and indebtedness to the banks, and then play it all off as some kind of Kookie-kooks and CT knuckleheads, hardy-har-har-har -- and no one's the wiser.

- Pretty slick, that.....

K&R