ICC Archives

USCIB Hosts ICC Officials From Throughout the Americas

Published on December 7, 2011

Last month, building on efforts to strengthen the network of International Chamber of Commerce national committees around the world, USCIB hosted three days of meetings among ICC representatives from across Latin America and the Western hemisphere.  The meetings, which coincided with USCIB’s International Leadership Award Dinner, provided a supportive environment for national committee heads and key staff from ICC headquarters in Paris to share best practices and discuss the world business organization’s key initiatives in policy advocacy and business services.

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L-R: Claudio Piacenza (Uruguay), Raquel Acosta (Costa Rica), François Gabriel Ceyrac (ICC), Patricia Hurtado (Bolivia), Mick Fleming (ACCE), Milagros J. Puello (Dominican Republic), USCIB Chairman Harold McGraw III, María Fernanda Garza (Mexico), USCIB President & CEO Peter Robinson, Yesica González (Mexico), Philip Kucharski (ICC), Fernanda Hurtado (Chile), Diana Droulers (Venezuela), Jeff Hardy (ICC), Gizelle Reginato (Brazil), Jordi Sellarés Serra (Spain), Louise Kantrow (ICC), Jorge Rubén Aguado (Argentina).

Following an exciting evening at USCIB’s award gala – where former President Bill Clinton helped honor Dow Chemical CEO Andrew Liveris, and where USCIB President and CEO Peter Robinson recognized them from the podium – the ICC delegates convened for a working lunch hosted by USCIB Chairman (and ICC Vice Chairman) Harold McGraw III, chairman and CEO of The McGraw-Hill Companies.  Discussion centered on the varying working conditions faced by ICC national committees in Latin America, resources available from ICC headquarters, and ways to coordinate action among national committees on important public policy matters, whether these be global, regional or in-country.

ICC representatives toured the renovations of the UN headquarters with UN Assistant Secretary General Michael Adlerstein (center), who is directing the work.
ICC representatives toured the renovations of the UN headquarters with UN Assistant Secretary General Michael Adlerstein (center), who is directing the work.

Then it was on the United Nations, where ICC’s permanent representative, Louise Kantrow, convened discussions with representatives from the UN Office for Partnerships as well as the Inter-American Development Bank.  ICC representatives also toured the major renovations currently underway at the UN Secretariat buildings and visited the 9/11 Memorial in lower Manhattan.

In their meetings at USCIB, which were chaired by Maria Fernanda Garza, vice chair of ICC Mexico, participants discussed a range of common concerns, including the nuts and bolts of national committee operations, use of communications and social media, ICC’s 2012 program of action, the work of ICC’s World Chambers Federation and ICC arbitration activities in the hemisphere.

Staff contact: Peter Robinson

Video interview with ICC Mexico’s Maria Fernanda Garza (at USCIB’s Award Gala – YouTube)

World Business Responds to Cannes G20 Summit Outcome

Published on November 7, 2011
ICC Chairman Gerard Worms (at right, with microphone) speaks at the B20 Summit in Cannes.
ICC Chairman Gerard Worms (at right, with microphone) speaks at the B20 Summit in Cannes.

The International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), the world business organization which USCIB represents in the United States, is urging G20 governments to put trade and investment at the heart of their Action Plan for Growth and Jobs in response to the outcomes of the Cannes G20 Summit.

“Trade has lifted millions out of poverty over the past 60 years by stimulating economic growth and job creation,” said ICC Chairman Gerard Worms.  “At a time when governments are grappling with excessive debt, a new approach to trade negotiations can be a cost-free stimulus to growth and job creation.”

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) estimates that for every 10 percent of trade that opens among G20 countries, around one million jobs are created.

ICC was encouraged by the G20’s recognition of “the merits of the multilateral trading system,” and its reaffirmation of its commitments to the Doha Development Agenda mandate and to avoid introducing new protectionist measures.  G20 leaders acknowledged the current stalemate in multilateral trade negotiations and that the Doha Round would not be concluded under current negotiating rules.

The G20 recognized the need to “pursue in 2012 fresh credible approaches to furthering negotiations” and it “directed its ministers to work on such new approaches” at the upcoming ministerial conference of the World Trade Organization (WTO) in December in Geneva. It also encouraged the ministers to “engage into discussions on the challenges and opportunities to the multilateral trading system in a globalized economy” and to report back at the next G20 Summit in June 2012 in Los Cabos, Mexico.

Read more on ICC’s website.

More on ICC’s G20 Advisory Group (ICC website)

ICC Concludes Successful B20 in Cannes

Published on November 4, 2011

4194_image001The International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), along with its partners including MEDEF (French business confederation) and the World Economic Forum (WEF), yesterday concluded an intensive two days of meetings in Cannes, France, for the G20 Business Summit (B20).

B20 CEOs, including the 20 members of ICC’s G20 Advisory Group, presented policy recommendations to G20 heads of state participating in the business summit. The policy recommendations were the product of a collaboration between the B20 working groups and those of WEF and ICC. The priorities shared with G20 leaders covered subjects including: trade and investment, financial regulation, commodities and raw materials, food security and global economic policy imperatives.

USCIB Chairman Harold McGraw III, CEO of The McGraw-Hill Companies and also vice chairman of ICC, took part in the G20 Business Summit. The B20 Summit proceedings began with a briefing for participating CEOs hosted by French President Nicolas Sarkozy at the Elysee Palace in Paris, and then continued with a series of roundtable meetings between the business and government leaders gathered in Cannes.

“Business leaders have come together to share policy priorities and to emphasize that G20 deliberations must be aligned with core business goals of open trade and investment, economic growth and job creation,” said ICC Chairman Gerard Worms. “We are responsible for ensuring that the voice of world business is heard.”

Among the G20 leaders participating in the B20 Summit were Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard, South Korean President Myung-Bak Lee, Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda, South African President Jacob Zuma, Argentine President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and Russian Federation President Dimitri Medvedev.

Read more on ICC’s website.

Business Says Euro Debt Deal Only First Step

Published on October 27, 2011
ICC Chairman Gerard Worms
ICC Chairman Gerard Worms

The International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) welcomed the agreement reached by leaders to address the challenges of sovereign and bank debt in Europe, calling it a development that should contribute to restoring confidence and stability to the world economy.  But ICC, which USCIB represents in the United States, said it believes that a strong multilateral effort by all G20 countries will be needed to lead the world economy into a position of renewed growth and job creation.

“The leaders of the G20 are uniquely placed to build on this example of European unity to adopt a plan that will take the world economy beyond the reach of instability and growing unemployment,” said ICC Chairman Gerard Worms. “As they did in 2009, the G20 can agree on a plan where emerging and developed economies chart a course out of crisis into a new period of growth and job creation.”

ICC said greater coordination and more effective international governance are crucial for ensuring that economic policies are consistent and contribute to global stability.  It said this can best be brought about by continuing to develop a more formal framework between the G20 countries – the leaders of which are meeting for a Summit in Cannes, France on November 3-4 – and key intergovernmental financial institutions like the International Monetary Fund.

USCIB Chairman Harold McGraw III, CEO of The McGraw-Hill Companies and also vice chairman of ICC, will participate in the B20 Business Summit taking place just prior to the G20 Summit in Cannes, which ICC is organizing alongside other major business groups.

Read more on ICC’s website.

Staff contact: Rob Mulligan

New Report Proves Trade Finance Is Low-Risk, Asks Regulators and G20 to Unlock Trade

Published on October 26, 2011

4182_image002Beijing and New York, N.Y., October 26, 2011 –The rules set by bank regulators impose unwarranted capital requirements that choke trade and have adverse impacts on growth. A new report issued today by the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) shows that trade finance is a relatively low-risk asset class that should not be feared by banks, nor over regulated by governments, according to ICC’s American national committee, the United States Council for International Business (USCIB).

ICC also said it was pleased that the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision had announced measures yesterday that recognize trade finance as a low-risk activity for banks, and said that there is opportunity to further refine the rules to foster the development of trade and the support of SME clients. ICC asserted that treating trade finance as a unique asset class to accurately reflect its low risk will help foster more trade and create jobs.

“The ICC report provides a compelling case for the Basel Committee to reduce the proposed capital requirements, which by some estimates effectively increase the cost of trade finance by 30 to 40 percent ,for importers and exporters around the world,” said Michael Quinn, managing director with JP Morgan and chair of the USCIB’s Banking Committee.  “As the rules have yet to be finalized, this ICC effort will hopefully address major concerns in the Basel Committee’s original recommendations.”

The new ICC report calls on standard setters and policy makers to carefully study the potential unforeseen impact of proposed Basel III changes on trade finance from the Basel committee and to make trade finance more accessible and affordable.

Reliable and cost-effective finance and guarantees to companies looking to import or export commodities, consumer goods, and capital equipment are critical to keep trade flowing within and between counties. World trade is, in turn, key to global economic growth.

The outlook on the risks of defaults in trade and finance were revealed in the ICC report Global Risks – Trade and Finance, issued on the occasion of a major ICC Banking Commission meeting taking place in Beijing from October 24 to 28.

The report was based on analysis of the ICC Trade Finance Register, the most comprehensive dataset available on the market. It contains data from major international banks reflecting a minimum of 60-65% of traditional global trade finance activity, worth about USD2-2.5 trillion. Fewer than 3,000 defaults were observed in the full data set of 11.4 million transactions.

The report also showed the short-term nature of trade transactions and recommended using the actual maturity of trade transactions to calculate risk requirements as opposed to the one-year standard proposed by regulators.

In the midst of the current global economic crisis, the ICC Banking Commission meeting brings together some 350 eminent banking professionals, international organizations and supervisory bodies from over 50 countries to examine the key trade and finance challenges faced by the industry.

The trade and finance experts at the ICC meeting also worked to frame business input to the G20 on stimulating jobs and growth, ahead of the upcoming G20 Summit in Cannes. The discussions were part of a series of regional consultations led by the ICC G20 Advisory Group around the world. Since its creation in May 2011, the G20 Advisory Group has been leading ICC’s efforts to develop policy input to the G20 process in areas including: trade and investment, financial regulation, anti-corruption, the international monetary system, commodity price volatility and green growth.

“Trade will play a key role in tackling the jobs crisis,” said Jean-Guy Carrier, ICC’s secretary general. “Economic growth depends largely on the capacity of G20 governments to improve the conditions for international trade, including easing trade finance rules. However, what we’re seeing is that protectionist measures are growing within the G20. This trend must be reversed and more needs to be done to dispel the myths that trade results in job losses. Trade is a dynamic process that contributes to job creation.”

Global Risks – Trade Finance 2011 is a useful tool for both policy-makers and senior executives in financial institutions around the world. It will enable institutions to better understand the level of risks involved in different trade finance products and allow bankers to benchmark their activities in a more rigorous fashion.

“I hope that by focusing on the critical connections between default levels in trade finance and the shaping of new regulatory recommendations, decision-makers will be able to engage collectively in efforts to improve the global financial system’s overall resilience,” said Kah Chye Tan, global head of trade and working capital, Barclays Corporate, and chair of the ICC Banking Commission.

To read the ICC response to the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision announcement on trade finance, please visit www.iccwbo.org.

About the International Chamber of Commerce

ICC is the world business organization, representing enterprises from all sectors in every part of the world. It promotes cross-border trade and investment and the multilateral trading system, and helps business meet the challenges and opportunities of globalization. Business leaders and experts drawn from ICC’s global membership establish the business stance on broad issues of trade and investment policy as well as on vital technical subjects. ICC enjoys a close working relationship with the United Nations and other intergovernmental organizations, including the World Trade Organization and the G20. ICC was founded in 1919. Today it groups hundreds of thousands of member companies and associations from 120 countries. For more information please visit www.iccwbo.org.

About USCIB

USCIB promotes open markets, competitiveness and innovation, sustainable development and corporate responsibility, supported by international engagement and prudent regulation.  Its members include top U.S.-based global companies and professional services firms from every sector of our economy, with operations in every region of the world.  With a unique global network encompassing leading international business organizations, including ICC, USCIB provides business views to policy makers and regulatory authorities worldwide, and works to facilitate international trade and investment.  More information is available at www.uscib.org.

More on USCIB’s Banking Committee

Mobile Broadband Spectrum Shortage Requires Immediate Action

Published on October 20, 2011
ICC says that mobile broadband spectrum policy must co-exist with other critical societal priorities such as broadcast services
ICC says that mobile broadband spectrum policy must co-exist with other critical societal priorities such as broadcast services

The International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) today called for governments and regulators to accelerate efforts to allocate and assign adequate spectrum to support the ever-increasing traffic demand for mobile broadband.

In a discussion paper developed by the ICC Task Force on Internet and Telecoms Infrastructure and Services (IT IS), ICC expressed concern about the strain on spectrum supply to meet the demand created by the growing number of subscribers and machine-to-machine technologies, and by the increasing consumption of voice minutes and data capacity ICC emphasized that it does not attach a greater importance to the use of spectrum for one particular mobile technology over another, and said that mobile broadband spectrum policy must co-exist with other critical societal priorities such as broadcast services.

Eric Loeb, chair of IT IS, said: “Given the enormous contribution of mobile broadband to innovation, competition, and job and economic growth in developed and developing countries, it is crucial that the unprecedented potential of mobile broadband is not stifled by a lack of adequate spectrum.”

The speed at which governments implement additional spectrum plans is critical. “The skyrocketing uptake of 3G services and mobile devices is already putting tremendous pressure on the current spectrum allocations,” said Mr Loeb. “As 4G adoption kicks in widely, that pressure will substantially increase. This entirely predictable spectrum shortage needs to be tackled as a priority today.”

Click here to read more on ICC’s website.

Staff contact: Barbara Wanner

More on USCIB’s Information, Communications and Technology Policy (ICT)

ICC website

As World Piracy Increases, More Ships Are Escaping Somali Pirates

Published on October 18, 2011

Piracy on the world’s seas has risen to record levels, with Somali pirates behind 56 percent of the 352 attacks reported this year, the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) and its International Maritime Bureau (IMB) revealed today in its latest global piracy report. Meanwhile, more Somali hijack attempts are being thwarted by strengthened anti-piracy measures.

“Figures for piracy and armed robbery at sea in the past nine months are higher than we’ve ever recorded in the same period of any past year,” said Pottengal Mukundan, director of IMB, whose Piracy Reporting Centre (PRC) has monitored piracy worldwide since 1991.

Demanding millions of dollars in ransom for captured ships and their crews, Somali pirates are intensifying operations not just off their own coastline, but further afield in the Red Sea – particularly during the monsoon season in the wider Indian Ocean. Although Somali pirates are initiating more attacks – 199 this year, up from 126 for the first nine months of 2010 – they are managing to hijack fewer vessels. Only 24 vessels were hijacked this year compared with 35 for the same period in 2010. Hijackings were successful in just 12% of all attempts this year, down from 28% in 2011.

IMB credits this reduction in hijackings to policing and interventions by international naval forces and the correct application of the industry’s latest Best Management Practice.

For 2011, pirates have taken 625 people hostage worldwide, killing eight people and injuring 41. Pirates are often heavily armed, using automatic weapons and rocket propelled grenades.

View the latest attacks on the IMB Live Piracy Map

Revised ICC Rules Boost G20 Efforts to Curtail Corruption

Published on October 17, 2011
From left: Francois Vincke, vice-chair of the ICC Commission on Corporate Responsibility and Anti-Corruption; and Jean-Guy Carrier, ICC secretary general
From left: Francois Vincke, vice-chair of the ICC Commission on Corporate Responsibility and Anti-Corruption; and Jean-Guy Carrier, ICC secretary general

The International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) has launched the ICC Rules on Combating Corruption in response to the G20’s call on business to stamp out corruption. The new ICC rules delineate measures companies should take to prevent corruption, including strong measures to end bribery and extortion.

ICC pointed out that G20 efforts to stabilize the economy and stimulate economic growth, trade and employment must address the drain on the economy caused by corruption. ICC Secretary General Jean-Guy Carrier said: “Corruption is a real threat to the integrity of markets, especially at a time when confidence and stability are most needed. Stamping out corruption will stimulate job creation, boost business confidence and open doors for emerging markets to attract foreign direct investment.”

The World Bank has estimated that corruption reduced annual economic growth by up to 1%, while the IMF reports that investment in corrupt countries is reduced by at least 5% when compared to countries that are relatively corruption-free.

The G20 has pledged to ‘lead by example’ through its Anti-Corruption Action Plan, which calls for ratification of the United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC) and adoption of other laws  aimed at thwarting bribery and corrupt practices, and also asks business to strengthen corporate efforts in fighting corruption. ICC has urged G20 leaders to ratify and implement UNCAC and encourages work with non-G20 states toward its universal adoption and implementation.

Read more on ICC’s website.

Download a PDF copy of the ICC Rules on Combating Corruption

Download the ICC’s Recommendations to the G20 on Fighting Corruption

New ICC Rules of Arbitration a Hot Topic at Miami Conferences

Published on October 13, 2011

The Latin American launch event for the 2012 ICC Rules of Arbitration, together with the International Chamber of Commerce‘s 9th Annual Miami Conference and the ICC Young Arbitrators Forum (YAF), are set to bring leading arbitration experts from Latin America and beyond to Miami on November 5-8. The launch conference of the 2012 ICC Rules of Arbitration on November 6 will feature talks with some of the experts directly involved in revising the ICC Rules of Arbitration, with simultaneous translation into English, Portuguese and Spanish.

“The Miami Launch of the 2012 ICC Rules of Arbitration comes at a time when states and corporations across Latin America are increasingly looking to arbitration as the most effective means by which to resolve cross-border disputes and disputes of an international nature. The Miami Launch affords users and arbitration practitioners an ideal opportunity to hear more about the changes and innovations in the 2012 ICC Rules of Arbitration and to discuss them with arbitration experts from across the region and from the ICC Court, the Secretariat and the Commission on Arbitration,” said John Beechey, chairman of the ICC International Court of Arbitration.

Organized under the auspices of the ICC International Court of Arbitration, the launch conference is open to anyone working in the field of international arbitration. Discussions will focus specifically on improvements made since the last revision in 1998. The new rules, which enter into force on January 1, 2012, were updated to bring them into line with today’s business and government needs in international trade and investment deals.

Following the launch event, the highly anticipated 9th Annual Miami Conference, on November 7-8, is a key forum for understanding international commercial arbitration in Latin America and the Caribbean. Entitled “International Commercial Arbitration in Latin America: The ICC perspective”, it features a line-up of top-class speakers, including Pedro A. Batista Martins, partner of the law firm Batista Martins Advogados, Brazil.  He said: “ICC’s Miami Conference is the perfect way for the region’s arbitration professionals to keep on top of latest changes in this rapidly-evolving field – whether they speak English, Spanish or Portuguese.”

More on ICC’s 9th Annual Miami Conference

More on USCIB’s Arbitration Committee

ICC Issues Third G20 Newsletter

Published on October 11, 2011
Corporate economists from around the world meet with members of the ICC G20 Advisory Group.
Corporate economists from around the world meet with members of the ICC G20 Advisory Group.

The International Chamber of Commerce has released the third issue of the G20 Executive Brief, a newsletter aimed at keeping the organization’s international network and the business community informed of its activities ahead of this year’s G20 Summit, November 3-4 in Cannes. Since its creation in May 2011, the G20 Advisory Group has been leading ICC’s efforts to develop policy input to the G20 process in areas including: trade and investment, financial regulation, anti-corruption, the international monetary system, commodity price volatility and green growth.