The intersection of insurance regulation and trade agreements is of obvious significance to international competitiveness and, thereby, to national welfare. Insurance Regulation in North America superbly balances a world of detailed analysis and commentary with deeply insightful interpretation and debate. The book's focus is on insurance regulation in three countries and allows the authors to approach the subject in an extraordinary depth that could not be achieved in a more global account. Includes: analysis of the political dimension of reaching agreements and of implementing them; comparison of the three major trade agreements that apply in the North American insurance market NAFTA, WTO agreements on financial services, and MEUFTA (the Mexico-European Union Free Trade Agreement) with emphasis on the relationship between GATS and NAFTA principles; investigation of the clear convergence of regulatory schemes and the probable limits to harmonization; discussion of the arbitrage by which companies get around regulatory restrictions and exploit opportunities created by loopholes; clarification of the crucial issues surrounding the role of customary international law principles in investor protection obligations; discussion of the level of government and which government agencies a company must turn to in order to satisfy legal requirements; analysis of the jurisprudence of the Supreme Court of Mexico regarding legal effects of treaties on domestic law; commentary on the effects of demutualization and of mergers and acquisitions; discussion of the effect of the entrenchment of U.S. State regulations and the federal government s lack of clear power to force State compliance; and adescription of dispute settlement procedures between governments. Although important issues arising in each of the three countries are all covered, there is an emphasis on the Mexican market in recognition of Mexico's greater future growth potential and of the relative paucity of relevant literature in English. Major case studies that reveal processes of compliance or conflict are analyzed in detail.