Now Available in USCIB International Bookstore: Uniform Rules for Bank Payment Obligations

Published on June 13, 2013

New York, N.Y., June 13, 2013 – Uniform Rules for Bank Payment Obligations (BPOs), a 21st-century standard in supply-chain finance that will facilitate international trade, is now available at the USCIB International Bookstore.

These new rules are set to revolutionize trade finance transactions. BPO is an irrevocable commitment made by one bank to another that payment will occur on a specified date after a specified event has taken place. It is an alternative instrument for trade settlement, designed to complement existing solutions, not to replace them.

The BPO provides the benefits of a letter of credit in an automated and secured environment, and enables banks to offer flexible risk mitigation and enhanced financing services to their corporate customers.

The rules were developed by the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) Banking Commission, in partnership with the financial messaging provider SWIFT and take into account the expectations of all relevant industries and users. Reflecting consensus of the industry, the rules were unanimously adopted by the ICC Banking Commission in April.

“The importance of collaboration among the banking community is paramount today.” According to Michael Quinn, Co-Chair of the ICC URBPO Education Group, Chair of USCIB’s Banking Committee, and Managing Director of Global Trade at JP Morgan. Quinn went on to say, “we have case studies where banks are successfully using BPO in situations where there is high volume import, short shipment time periods and a need to provide liquidity to suppliers who are providing relatively low-cost retail consumer type goods.” Mr. Quinn also added, “this provides us with excellent examples of how BPO is being leveraged to facilitate trade without getting bogged down in the processing of documents.”

The speed of trade, the complexity of supply chains and the reliance on information and data today is overwhelming. Over the last 10 years banks and corporates have become focused on financing liquidity down supply chains to ensure products can get to customers. The financial crisis forced many companies to rethink their supply chain strategies and consider ways to ensure integrity down the chain while ensuring it remains liquid and appropriately protected. This, Quinn suggests, has led to a convergence of corporate needs for supply chain financing with banks’ need to support them in this and an ambition to reduce paper handling so that greater focus can be put on risk mitigation and financing.

The rules are set to go into effect on July 1. Order your copy today at USCIB International Bookstore.

About USCIB:
USCIB promotes open markets, competitiveness and innovation, sustainable development and corporate responsibility, supported by international engagement and regulatory coherence. Its members include 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 at www.uscib.org.

USCIB’s Trade Services include: ATA Carnet, commonly known as the Merchandise Passport, which allows goods to enter over 85 customs territories tax- and duty-free for up to one year; eCertificates of Origin, fully electronic processing of Certificates of Origin, returned to you by e-mail, fast and complaint with ICC Guidelines for Certificates of Origin; and the USCIB International Bookstore, which enables customers to learn international business through unique titles covering a range of topics.

Contact:
Hsin-Ya Hou, USCIB International Bookstore
+1 212.703.5066, hyhou@uscib.org

USCIB International Bookstore

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New York Roundtable Looks at Stakes for Business in Transatlantic Trade Talks

Published on June 12, 2013

On June 6, at Pfizer’s headquarters in New York City, USCIB joined with the American Chambers of Commerce in Europe, a confederation of all the AmChams in the region, and the American Business Forum on Europe to hold a roundtable on the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) and what is at stake for business.

On May 10, USCIB submitted a report on TTIP to the U.S. Trade Representative’s office detailing recommended negotiating objectives in a variety of areas. Click here to download a copy.

The meeting was opened by Richard Blackburn, Pfizer’s vice president of international public affairs, USCIB President and CEO Peter Robinson and Jake Slegers, chair of AmChams in Europe.

The event featured two panel discussions providing perspectives on the upcoming negotiations from both sides of the Atlantic. The first featured Susan Danger, managing director of the AmCham EU in Brussels, and Rob Mulligan, USCIB’s senior vice president for policy and government affairs. Danger described how European business is organizing itself to advocate for the TTIP, and stressed the importance of complementary activity on the U.S. and European sides throughout the negotiations.

Mulligan provided a snapshot of how USCIB is working alongside fellow business groups in Washington to set up the Business Coalition for Transatlantic Trade and cited examples of some common themes on regulatory cooperation issues the business community is already communicating to governments. Country-specific outlooks were provided by Marina Niforos, managing director of AmCham France, and Joanne Richardson, chief executive of AmCham Ireland.

The second panel delved into the details of what specific industries are looking for in the TTIP. Dontai Smalls, vice president of corporate public affairs with UPS, and Doug Goudie, director of international government relations at Pfizer spoke on behalf of their companies. Both agreed that while the TTIP will be a challenge to navigate in several key areas, including regulatory matters and intellectual property protected, the benefits derived from the deal will create jobs and opportunities on both sides of the Atlantic. The business community should therefore keep up outreach to governments, to build momentum and ensure a successful conclusion.

The roundtable also saw the launch of the 2013 Case for Investing in Europe, by Joseph Quinlan, economist at Bank of America. Quinlan spoke about the current climate for investing in the European market and stressed that it is as strong as ever. The launch of the report was complemented by a case study presentation on investing in Europe by Salvatore Gabola, director for European public affairs with The Coca-Cola Company.

The event was attended by more than 70 members of the business, diplomatic and policy communities. USCIB looks forward to working with the AmChams in Europe and AmCham EU in sharing information and coordinating business views during the TTIP negotiations.

Click here for photos from the event.

Staff contacts: Rob Mulligan and Justine Badimon

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OECD Releases New Study on Global Value Chains

Published on May 29, 2013

At this week’s OECD Forum in Paris, OECD Secretary General Angel Gurria launched a new OECD report on Interconnected Economies: Benefitting from Global Value Chains, which discusses the challenges and opportunities facing advanced, emerging-market and developing economies as they seek to integrate into the global marketplace.

USCIB President and CEO Peter Robinson participated in a program at the Forum discussing global value chains and this new report. He commended the OECD for this work and highlighted the importance of policies that will facilitate the ability of companies to operate through the global supply networks they need to compete and reach consumers around the world.

Robinson cited the recent study by Matthew Slaughter of Dartmouth, American Companies and Global Supply Networks: Driving U.S. Economic Growth and Jobs by Connecting with the World. That study, commissioned by USCIB and the Business Roundtable, references the latest data on company operations and employment to underscore how global companies’ success abroad also benefits America – by expanding exports, generating demand for intermediate inputs, promoting domestic R&D and spurring new jobs at home to support sales to overseas markets.

More information on OECD work on global value chains is available on the OECD website at http://oe.cd/gvc.

In a related move, the OECD and the World Trade Organization have released an update of their joint database on trade in value added, which was first unveiled in January. The update deepens the database’s analytical depth by presenting the indicators for a wider country coverage, and by expanding the reference years. Read more at http://www.wto.org/english/news_e/news13_e/miwi_17may13_e.htm.

Business Meets With OECD Ministers

USCIB Senior Counsel Ronnie Goldberg was among the business leaders from BIAC, the Business and Industry Advisory Committee to the OECD, who met on May 29 with the OECD Ministerial Counsel, which is made up of top government officials from across the 34-nation OECD. At the annual high-level consultation, BIAC members urgently called for a more business-enabling environment. The OECD Economic Outlook for 2013 points to an uneven recovery of the global economy and challenges for governments to implement appropriate policies for more growth and employment. Click here to read BIAC’s press release on the meeting.

Staff contact: Rob Mulligan

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Washington Tax Conference to Weigh New Scrutiny of Global Companies

Published on May 23, 2013

Washington, D.C., May 23, 2013 – Against a backdrop of slow economic growth and increased attention to international corporate tax practices, executives from a range of global companies will meet with tax experts from the OECD and member governments at the 2013 OECD International Tax Conference, June 3-4 in Washington, D.C.

Now in its eighth year, the sold-out conference is organized by the United States Council for International Business (USCIB) in cooperation with the 34-nation OECD, which is the leading global forum for discussion of international tax policies.

“The OECD is a valuable source of guidance on sensible policies and regulation, especially on the tax front,” said Rob Mulligan, USCIB’s senior vice president for policy and government affairs. “Decisions on tax policy can have a major impact on cross-border investment flows, and policy makers must make wise choices to maximize economic growth, job creation and development.”

The conference will focus on the challenge of adapting longstanding international tax principles to the modern economy. At their summit in Mexico last year, G20 leaders explicitly referred to “the need to prevent base erosion and profit shifting,” or BEPS. G20 finance ministers subsequently asked the OECD to report on this issue by their meeting last February. The OECD report and follow-on action will be high on the agenda at this year’s conference.

Related issues up for discussion include transfer pricing of intangibles, jurisdiction to tax issues and tax transparency. Efforts to integrate the views of emerging and developing economies into the OECD’s work are also on the program.

Speakers at the two-day event will include:

Pascal Saint-Amans, director of the OECD’s Center for Tax Policy and Administration
Robert B. Stack, deputy assistant secretary for international tax policy, U.S. Treasury
Will Morris, director of global tax policy, GE International
Mike Williams, director of business and international tax, Her Majesty’s Treasury, U.K.
Bill Sample, corporate vice president for worldwide tax, Microsoft

“Governments need clear, consistent rules to collect an appropriate amount of tax from multinational enterprises doing business in their jurisdictions,” said Carol Doran Klein, USCIB’s vice president for tax policy. “Businesses need clear and consistent rules to foster trade and investment across borders. Developing these rules requires dialogue among countries and business. This conference is an important part of that dialogue.”

The conference is co-organized by USCIB, the OECD and the Business and Industry Advisory Committee (BIAC) to the OECD, which officially represents the view of industry in the Paris-based body, and for which USCIB serves as the U.S. member federation. Supporting organizations include the International Fiscal Association, Tax Foundation, National Foreign Trade Council, Organization for International Investment, Tax Council Policy Institute, International Tax Policy Forum and Tax Executives Institute. Details are available at www.uscibtax.org.

About USCIB
USCIB promotes open markets, competitiveness and innovation, sustainable development and corporate responsibility, supported by international engagement and regulatory coherence. Its members include 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 BIAC, 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.

Contact:
Jonathan Huneke, VP communications, USCIB
+1 212.703.5043 or jhuneke@uscib.org

Conference agenda and other information

Business Pressing for Ambitious Coverage of Financial Services in Transatlantic Trade Pact

Published on May 17, 2013

USCIB and nine other leading U.S. business groups sent a forceful joint letter to the White House last week pressing for ambitious and comprehensive financial services commitments in the soon-to-be-launched U.S.-EU Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership negotiations.

“We strongly support financial services liberalization both in the EU and the U.S.,” according to Shaun Donnelly, USCIB’s vice president for investment and financial services. “Our immediate concern, quite honestly, is more on the American side. We have picked up worrying reports that some U.S. financial regulators appear hesitant to fully embrace the regulatory cooperation elements for financial services, despite the fact they will likely be extended to virtually every other sector of the economy.”

Donnelly said USCIB and other business groups understand the complexity and unique nature of the financial services sector, and appreciate that commitments in a TTIP agreement on regulatory cooperation will vary by sector.

The joint letter recommends that U.S. and European negotiators with the relevant statutory authority and expertise lead discussions in the TTIP talks about the processes, mechanisms and commitments relating to regulatory cooperation on financial services. The business groups also urge that cross-cutting disciplines on regulatory cooperation (e.g. early transatlantic consultations among regulators, transparency, use of rigorous impact assessment tools, periodic review of existing regulatory measures, and applications of broad “good regulatory practices”) be applied to the financial services sector.

“We are also urging a TTIP agreement coordinate, and strengthen, the various U.S.-EU bilateral regulatory dialogues already in place, or those that might be created in the future,” said Donnelly. In the financial services space, that would currently encompass the U.S.-EU Insurance Dialogue and the U.S.-EU Financial Markets Regulatory Dialogue. “These dialogues, and other US.-EU specialized forums, have been a good start, but it is important now that the TTIP provide strong additional impetus to U.S- European cooperation and integration in these key sectors,” he said.

The business groups’ bottom-line message to the Obama administration is that they strongly reject any suggestion that financial services sector might not be fully subject to important disciplines under the TTIP. Given the key role that financial services play in facilitating and driving broader economic integration, it is crucial that any TTIP agreement not carve out or give short shrift to these key sectors.

Staff contact: Shaun Donnelly

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Global Business Welcomes New WTO Director General Ahead of Bali Conference

Published on May 14, 2013

The International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), the world business organization for which USCIB serves as the American national committee, warmly congratulated Ambassador Roberto Carvalho de Azevedo of Brazil on his selection as the new director general of the World Trade Organization (WTO).

“The global business community congratulates Roberto Azevedo on his appointment,” said ICC Chairman-elect Terry McGraw, the CEO of McGraw-Hill Financial who also serves as chairman of USCIB. “We welcome Mr. Azevedo’s extensive experience in international economic affairs, and we pledge to work with him and his colleagues at the WTO to achieve even greater advancements in global trade to the benefit of all nations and their citizens, We also want to express our special thanks to Pascal Lamy for his tireless service as director general.”

ICC and the Qatar Chamber of Commerce and Industry launched the World Trade Agenda initiative at the WTO in March 2012. Its aim is to mobilize the business community in support of harvesting results on trade facilitation and other elements of the Doha Round negotiations at the 9th WTO Ministerial Conference in Bali this coming December.

ICC has undertaken an intensive program of consultations over the past year, reaching out to ICC’s network of 6.5 million companies in 130 countries.

The Peterson Institute for International Economics in Washington, D.C. recently quantified the potential benefits from ICC’s recommendations in a report entitled Payoff from the World Trade Agenda 2013. It found that by simplifying customs procedures – through trade facilitation measures – alone, member countries would deliver global job gains of 21 million, with developing countries gaining more than 18 million jobs and developed countries increasing their workforce by three million.

The World Trade Agenda was launched in response to calls from WTO members and from G20 leaders for fresh approaches following an 11-year impasse in multilateral trade negotiations. Business recommendations from this initiative will be delivered to G20 leaders and WTO ministers ahead of both the G20 Summit in Saint Petersburg and the Bali WTO Ministerial Conference.

G20 Is Responding to Business Concerns but Could Do Better

Published on May 13, 2013

Paris and New York, May 13, 2013 – The G20 is responding to business concerns, but needs to further improve its performance in order to maintain momentum in the global economic recovery, according to a new report from the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC).

The second annual ICC G20 Business Scorecard, issued halfway through Russia’s presidency of the G20, was released by the Paris-based ICC and its American national committee, the United States Council for International Business (USCIB).

The scorecard assesses four policy areas that ICC’s G20 Advisory Group considers priorities for G20 attention: trade and investment, financing for growth and development, energy and environment, and anti-corruption.

Overall, the scorecard rates G20 responsiveness to business priorities as “fair,” indicating that G20 leaders are making progress but at a somewhat protracted pace. This is an improvement on the score from the 2012 scorecard, which rated overall progress as “poor.”

“It is encouraging to see the G20 making progress towards addressing business priorities, and this is reflected in an improved grade over last year,” said ICC Secretary General Jean-Guy Carrier. “However, this year’s mixed results indicate the G20 needs to do more to fulfill its self-defined role for leading the global economic recovery. Jobs and economic growth are in the balance.”

The ICC G20 Business Scorecard – which examines developments on business recommendations through to the end of the 2012 Mexican G20 presidency – measures progress on business priorities on a scale of:”‘inadequate,” “poor,” “fair” or “good.” It indicates that progress has been steady but limited, partially due to an unavoidable but distracting focus on responding to the on-going eurozone crisis.

Despite the “fair” overall score, the scorecard marks good performances in some policy areas. Notable areas of progress include a strengthened dialogue between business and the G20 on anti-corruption and steps taken under the Mexican G20 presidency to improve financial inclusion.

USCIB Chairman Terry McGraw (chairman, president and CEO, McGraw-Hill Financial) is among the members of the ICC G20 Advisory Group. McGraw will take the reins as chairman of ICC in July.

Click here for a longer version of this news release on ICC’s website, with additional tables from the ICC G20 Business Scorecard and background on other elements that were assessed.

Contact:
Jonathan Huneke, USCIB
+1 212.703.5043, jhuneke@uscib.org

Download the full ICC G20 Business Scorecard

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USCIB Rallies Support for World Bank Doing Business Reports

Published on May 8, 2013

USCIB and its global partners, the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) and International Organization of Employers (IOE), are spearheading business advocacy to maintain the integrity and rigor of the World Bank’s annual “Doing Business” report and ranking.

In a response to criticism from China and other countries, the new president of the World Bank, Jim Yong Kim, appointed an independent panel of outside experts to review the Doing Business reports, which many in the business community view as a useful measuring tool for understanding the comparative attractiveness of a country’s business and investment climate.

The Doing Business reports currently provide objective measures and rankings of business regulations for local firms in 185 economies and selected cities around the world. In addition, the reports can serve an important policy function by providing leverage for economic reforms in nations where excessive regulation and hidden costs impede the process of starting and running a business.

China in particular has criticized what it says are the report’s “unfair” rankings. As reported in the Financial Times, China ranked 91st out of 185 economies in the most recent Doing Business report, with especially low scores for its construction bureaucracy and tax system.

The panel review is being conducted amid opposition to the report series from a coalition of NGOs, academics, labor unions, and large borrower countries. Using an open consultation process, the expert panel is soliciting comments and will use them as inputs into the decision-making process for the reports. In response, USCIB is leading an effort within the business community to emphasize the value of the reports as an unbiased and reliable source of information on investment, economic development, job creation, and market conditions in countries around the world.

Hearing for stakeholders

On April 18, ICC Secretary General Jean-Guy Carrier delivered comments directly to the independent panel, underscoring the important contribution of the reports to stakeholders spanning business and government entities. USCIB was represented at the hearing by Shaun Donnelly, vice president for investment and financial services, who afterward participated in a Q&A session with panel members. For its part, the IOE submitted comments to the panel and mobilized its worldwide networks of national employers’ bodies to do the same.

The following day, USCIB led a group of business and think-tank representatives in an open discussion session with the panel. According to Donnelly, USCIB is “speaking up aggressively on the value of a rigorous annual Doing Business Report, focused on real-world metrics of direct relevance to local and international business as they make investment and hiring decisions.”

Adam Greene, USCIB’s vice president for labor and corporate responsibility, was critical of the World Bank’s process in setting up the independent panel, noting that the panel had no business representatives even though its original terms of reference called for this. He called the consultation process “haphazard and not well communicated.”

Greene submitted a response to four questions solicited for the review process, covering topics such as the value, relevance, impartiality, effectiveness, and decision-making impact of the reports, as well as how they could be improved. His responses underscored that “the value of the report is that it speaks to the relationship between economic development, regulation, and report creation, and suggests ways to reduce the informal economy, where workers have no protections.”

He also noted that the Doing Business project addresses precisely the types of issues that the private sector believes must be included in the UN’s post-2015 development agenda, i.e., fostering a conducive environment for private enterprise and growth that can raise living standards and provide the resources to tackle urgent societal problems. “The fact that a number of countries are seeking to undermine that process indicates that some states aren’t very interested in taking serious steps to foster good governance or economic growth.”

The panel’s final report is expected within the next two weeks.

Staff contacts: Shaun Donnelly and Adam Greene

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USCIB Applauds Nomination of Froman as U.S. Trade Representative

Published on May 2, 2013

Michael Froman (left) and USCIB Chairman Terry McGraw (right), with Matt Goodman of the Center for Strategic and International Studies, at a 2012 briefing in Washington

New York, N.Y., May 2, 2013 – The United States Council for International Business (USCIB) welcomed President Obama‘s nomination of Michael Froman as U.S. Trade Representative, calling it a positive sign for renewed U.S. leadership on trade at a critical time for our economy.

“This is an excellent choice,” said USCIB President and CEO Peter M. Robinson. “Michael Froman has been a positive force for trade within the Obama administration, and is well respected in the business community. His nomination could not come at a better time, as the U.S. begins trade and investment talks with the European Union and pursues the Trans-Pacific Partnership.”

Robinson continued: “We urge the Senate to confirm Mr. Froman’s nomination as soon as possible. On our side, we will be working hard to provide input to USTR on top trade priorities, and to encourage overseas industry and government positions consistent with U.S. trade objectives.”

USCIB Chairman Terry McGraw (chairman, CEO and president of McGraw Hill Financial Inc.), also praised the nomination. “As Chairman of President Obama’s Advisory Committee on Trade Policy and Negotiations, I warmly welcome the appointment of Mike Froman as the next U.S. Trade Representative,” said McGraw, who was recently elected chairman of the International Chamber of Commerce.

“He is ideally qualified to lead us to completion of the Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement and steer us to successful negotiation of the US-EU trade initiatives, the Trade in Services Agreement and continue USTR’s strong support for an active US trade and investment agenda,” McGraw added.

USCIB has laid out an ambitious 2013 trade and investment agenda, which focuses on completing trade agreements in Asia and Europe, moving forward on bilateral investment treaties with key emerging markets, revitalizing work in the World Trade Organization, and addressing new emerging regulatory challenges that can serve as impediments to open trade and investment.

About USCIB:
USCIB promotes open markets, competitiveness and innovation, sustainable development and corporate responsibility, supported by international engagement and regulatory coherence. Its members include 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 the International Chamber of Commerce, the International Organization of Employers and the Business and Industry Advisory Committee to the OECD, USCIB provides business views to policy makers and regulatory authorities worldwide, and works to facilitate international trade and investment. More at www.uscib.org.

Contact:
Jonathan Huneke, USCIB
+1 212.703.5043, jhuneke@uscib.org

More on USCIB’s Trade and Investment Committee

G20/OECD AntiCorruption Conference

Published on April 30, 2013

A strong business contingent turned out for the third annual High-Level Anti-Corruption Conference for G20 Governments and Business, which took place April 25-26 at the Paris headquarters of the OECD. Jointly organized by the Russian Presidency of the G20 and the OECD, with support from the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, the conference brought together some 300 participants from government, business and civil society to discuss the priorities laid out in the 2013-2014 G20 Anti-Corruption Action Plan and B20 recommendations to governments.

BIAC Chairman and USCIB board member Charlie Heeter (Deloitte) said the OECD can and should play an important role by developing global frameworks to address the problems of corruption and bribery and continuing its active involvement in the G20 process. It is important to create fair conditions for all market participants, foster consistent implementation of existing rules to create a level playing field and fight corruption and fraud through collective action, education, training, and partnership approaches that are mutually beneficial.

Heeter said governments should create an efficient legal and institutional framework, also addressing the demand side of corruption. The private sector has a key role to play, both by supporting governments to take action and by taking appropriate measures to address the challenges of corruption.

Erik Belfrage, chair of the ICC Commission on Corporate Responsibility and Anti-Corruption, underscored how concrete ICC tools for training and capacity building help companies – particularly small- and medium-sized enterprises (SME) – fight corruption. Belfrage, who is also chairman of the International Council of Swedish Industry, called attention to the groundwork laid by the ICC Rules on Combating Corruption, which provide a global standard for the private sector to fight corruption.