International Financial Institutions and Indian Banking: a Legal Profile

This chapter is devoted to the understanding of the global efforts of achieving international standard settings and consequent legal standards. As the Indian banking system is also trying to conform to these international standards, a review of the system thereof has been undertaken. The chapter elucidates the regulation of international banking through the Basel Committee and the role of the two Bretton Woods Institutions-the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), in international standard setting. It reflects on the evolution of India's banking system in a historical perspective, and discusses the present legal structure of banking in India. Finally, the chapter talks about banking as a service as conceptualized in the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), and the paradigm shift it has brought about in banking as a service in today's economy. Keywords:General Agreement on Trade in Services; Indian banking system; International Bank for Reconstruction and Development; international banking; International Monetary Fund (IMF); international standard settings; legal standards; World Trade Organisation (WTO)