600 © 2017 AESS Publications. All Rights Reserved. THE GLOBAL FINANCIAL CRISIS AND INTERNATIONAL TRADE Gouher Ahmed 1+ Anwar Al-Gasaymeh 2 Tariq Mehmood 3 1,2,3 Skyline University College, Sharjah, UAE (+ Corresponding author) ABSTRACT Article History Received: 27 December 2016 Revised: 10 February 2017 Accepted: 15 March 2017 Published: 24 April 2017 Keywords International trade Financial crisis Great recession Global economy Regulatory structure WTO Fair trade deal. The objective of the study is to study the global financial crisis of 2008 and its aftermath. The Great Recession, which is still found fluttering, and the consequences of the recession. As a result of the recession, the global economy is in a slowdown mode, impacting global trade in terms of magnitude and structure. The paper calls for pro- active regulatory structure including of Central banks and world bodies such as IMF, WB, and WTO need to awaken to their responsibility of straightening out international finance and trade. 1. INTRODUCTION The global financial crisis of 2008 and its aftermath is being experienced by the world at large as a Great Recession, it had an enormous impact on the global economy and is proved to be a huge game changer. For example, the central banks, including the Fed could not foresee and prevent the financial collapse; they are going out of their way to overcome the „recessionary‟ crunch of the financial crisis. The cr isis, said to be similar to that of the Great Depression (1929-33), which also was a great game changer, is widely held to be wayward-banks‟ caused. This is a massive surprise in the 21 st century‟s age of high global finance, of which banks, big and small are rightful custodians. Is the advanced world walking backward in banking? The over 100 years old Fed must have had enough experience of the waywardness of banking and the ways and means of calling it to the right path. It is incumbent on central banking to safeguard the financial interests of the global banking community. In central banking, the CBU- Central Bank of UAE appears to set a right example through its seemingly 24/7/365 monitoring of the banking situation and putting the bank customers‟ interests at the center of its functioning (Ahmed, 2012). In light of the Financial crisis , central bank functioning becomes more crucial, not only for the financial health of a nation but also its overall economic health and performance, including the external sector, which is Asian Economic and Financial Review ISSN(e): 2222-6737 ISSN(p): 2305-2147 DOI: 10.18488/journal.aefr.2017.76.600.610 Vol. 7, No. 6, 600-610. © 2017 AESS Publications. All Rights Reserved. URL: www.aessweb.com