News release: “United States Trade Representative Susan C. Schwab announced today that the United States has requested dispute settlement consultations with China at the World Trade Organization (WTO) regarding China’s treatment of U.S. suppliers of financial information services. China’s regulatory regime requires foreign financial information suppliers to operate through a government-designated distributor in China and prohibits them from establishing local operations to provide their services. In addition, the agency designated by China to regulate this financial service appears to have a conflict of interest, since the agency seems to be closely aligned with a Chinese competitor in the supply of these services. The United States believes that China’s treatment of foreign financial information suppliers is inconsistent with China’s WTO obligations.”