7. World Trade Organization (wto) – (Світова організація торгівлі)

The World Trade Organization (WTO) deals with the global rules of trade between nations. The WTO's predecessor, the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), was established after World War II. The organization officially commenced on January 1, 1995. The WTO has 157 members. The WTO's headquarters is at the Centre William Rappard, Geneva, Switzerland. The WTO is governed by a ministerial conference.

All decisions are made by the member governments.

Functions of the WTO:

• It oversees the implementation, administration and operation of the covered agreements.

• It provides a forum for negotiations and for settling disputes.

• It provides transparency of trade policy by observations on the world market.

• The WTO is also a center of economic research and analysis

• The WTO cooperates closely with the two other components of the Bretton Woods system, the IMF (International Monetary Fund) and the World Bank.

Principles of the trading system

The WTO establishes a framework for trade policies; it does not define or specify outcomes. That is, it is concerned with setting the rules of the trade policy games.^[32] Five principles are of particular importance in understanding both the pre-1994 GATT and the WTO:

1. Non-Discrimination.

2. Reciprocity

3. Binding and enforceable commitments

4. Transparency.

5. Safety valves

Organizational structure

The General Council has multiple bodies which oversee committees in different areas, re the following:

• Council for Trade in Goods

• Council for Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights

Accession and membership

The process of becoming a WTO member is unique to each applicant country, and the terms of accession are dependent upon the country's stage of economic development and current trade regime.^[48] The process takes about five years, on average, but it can last more if the country is less than fully committed to the process or if political issues interfere

A country wishing to accede to the WTO submits an application to the General Council, and has to describe all aspects of its trade and economic policies that have a bearing on WTO agreements.

8. New-York and London as the global financial centers (Нью-Йорк та Лондон як фінансові глобальні центри)

The peculiarity of New-York as a financial centre is that it is only the foreign fund market and the main source of Eurodollars. The market of the bank credits takes the main place among the components of this financial centre. The international activity of the big American banks is connected not only with the credit operations but also with the investment ones. They offer various operations with important documents to their clients, place important documents on the primary market, and act as a broker on the secondary market.

The efficiency of the New York fund market is gained owing to the output of the new obligations by the inside financial institution for the less expensive price than in the other foreign markets.

The currency market is weakly developed, though if to take into consideration such indices as “volume of the turnover”, “the amount of currency that converts”, it is considered to be the biggest centre in the world in the currency trade.

The market of the important documents occupy the important place, it connects the American financial markets with the international financial markets.

London is the European financial centre. It is the biggest national financial centre in the world that has equally good developed markets of short-term credits and long-term loans, powerful broker's boards, highly placed insurance and freight affair etc.

The dominance of the international components over the national ones is typical for London. The base of its financial power is not the national but international currency market and the market of loan capital. The ability of the banks, broker's board and bill brokers to react very quickly to the new situation and financial situation is one of the main peculiarities. In London, the world financial centre, are distinguished 4 markets: gold, currency, short- and long-term loans, insurance.