The aim of this paper is to review the literature on ‘banking and insurance and international trade. The study presents the literature on services trade, services trade liberalization, trade in financial services, reforms in the banking and insurance sectors, trade in banking services, international trade in insurance services, trade in banking and insurance services and its relationship with economic growth and related aspects. The opening up of financial sector to foreign participation as a part of national financial reforms contributes to international efforts aimed at strengthening the global financial architecture. Finally, we examine the relationship between economic growth and banking and insurance trade performance and measures the impact of banking and insurance trade performance on the economic growth of economies.