The primary task of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) is to lay down standards which would create a free and unrestricted international exchange of goods, services and intellectual property products. General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) is the obligatory component of the WTO's legal system which sets the rules for the flow of services, including the financial ones.

An analysis of the liabilities concerning insurances, bank deposits and loans declared by the European countries in the transformation period justifies an opinion that these countries adopted a model of relatively open markets, where foreign competitors and their offers are treated in a way similar to domestic ones. Yet, total liberalization of the financial sector is not intended, although integration with the European Union will cause a considerable increase in the extent of such liberalization, as compared with the current situation.