1/4% Tax on all stock trades pushed in NY Times today
- Thread starter seasideheights
- Start date
Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, on Wednesday threw the full weight of her government behind a renewed drive to introduce a global tax on financial transactions, insisting that ordinary citizens were demanding that financial institutions share more of the cost of the global crisis.
She said that a tax on stock exchange transactions, or a tax on all financial activity, including the profits and bonuses paid by banks, was needed, and she was determined to push for a decision at the G20 summit in June. If the G20 could not agree on such a measure, she said, then the European Union should act alone....
he push for a transaction tax, she said, was not about the technical details, but a question of fairness in sharing the costs of the crisis. âPeople are right in demanding this,â she said.
The German government has given way to opposition demands for such a financial transaction tax, in a bid to get broad parliamentary agreement for Germany to provide up to â¬150bn in credit guarantees to underpin the stabilisation mechanism for the eurozone, agreed by finance ministers in Brussels 10 days ago.
She said it would have been a âfatal mistakeâ for Germany to block the plan, and rejected criticism that it would simply turn the eurozone into a transfer mechanism for German taxpayers to support the rest of the currency union.
Read it all
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/9014ba38-632e-11df-99a5-00144feab49a.html
She said that a tax on stock exchange transactions, or a tax on all financial activity, including the profits and bonuses paid by banks, was needed, and she was determined to push for a decision at the G20 summit in June. If the G20 could not agree on such a measure, she said, then the European Union should act alone....
he push for a transaction tax, she said, was not about the technical details, but a question of fairness in sharing the costs of the crisis. âPeople are right in demanding this,â she said.
The German government has given way to opposition demands for such a financial transaction tax, in a bid to get broad parliamentary agreement for Germany to provide up to â¬150bn in credit guarantees to underpin the stabilisation mechanism for the eurozone, agreed by finance ministers in Brussels 10 days ago.
She said it would have been a âfatal mistakeâ for Germany to block the plan, and rejected criticism that it would simply turn the eurozone into a transfer mechanism for German taxpayers to support the rest of the currency union.
Read it all
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/9014ba38-632e-11df-99a5-00144feab49a.html
Politicians need scapegoats:
Why We Need More Speculators
March 10, 2010
by Chidem Kurdas
Greek prime minister George Papandreou demands a crackdown on credit default swaps. Itâs easy to see why politicians bring up wicked speculators whenever some economic hardship shows up. Itâs an old game to put the blame on others to deflect it from yourself.
Middlemen have been successfully pilloried for millennia. Ancient Athenians, faced with rising prices, hauled grain merchants to court some 2400 years ago. Could it be that throughout history...
http://thinkmarkets.wordpress.com/2010/03/10/why-we-need-more-speculators/
Why We Need More Speculators
March 10, 2010
by Chidem Kurdas
Greek prime minister George Papandreou demands a crackdown on credit default swaps. Itâs easy to see why politicians bring up wicked speculators whenever some economic hardship shows up. Itâs an old game to put the blame on others to deflect it from yourself.
Middlemen have been successfully pilloried for millennia. Ancient Athenians, faced with rising prices, hauled grain merchants to court some 2400 years ago. Could it be that throughout history...
http://thinkmarkets.wordpress.com/2010/03/10/why-we-need-more-speculators/
I don't have a link in english but Christine Lagarde, french finance minister, said yesterday that Europe must remain cautious on bank tax and that "transactions may not be the best way to calculate a tax or a fee". She wants to work on annual results.
For those who read french:
http://www.webmanagercenter.com/man...sactions-financieres-berlin-et-paris-prudents
For those who read french:
http://www.webmanagercenter.com/man...sactions-financieres-berlin-et-paris-prudents
"# Tax on financial transactions: Berlin and Paris cautious
#
#
lish Finance Wolfgang Schäuble and Christine Lagarde before an ECOFIN meeting in Brussels May 18, 2010. (Photo: John Thys)
[18/05/2010 9:39:56] BRUSSELS (AFP) The German and French Ministers of Finance Christine Lagarde Wolfgang Schäuble and Tuesday reacted cautiously to the idea of introducing a tax on financial transactions, on the sidelines of a meeting with their European counterparts in Brussels.
A tax on financial transactions can not work "so it makes sense that if implemented globally," said German Minister Wolfgang Schäuble. "And there is considerable doubt to reach a comprehensive agreement".
"But I'm still positive that we Europeans will advocate together for such a solution. The decisive date is the summit of Heads of State and Government (G20) in Canada in June.
His French counterpart Christine Lagarde said that "we must consider the taxation of banking and financial sector in general, as a whole, and pay close attention to the basis on which the tax is calculated.
Financial transactions "may not be the most effective way to calculate a tax or a tax," said Lagarde. There are other bases of calculations, "financial transactions are one, the balance sheets of banks is another, and on balance there are various methods that can be used.
In any event, "there must be no discrimination or no comparative advantage for banks or financial institutions that remain outside the tax field," said Lagarde.
In a letter sent last week to other European leaders, the president of the European Commission Jose Manuel Barroso appealed to Europe's G20 calls for a tax on financial institutions.
Mr Barroso will represent the EU at the G20 Toronto 26 and June 27, alongside the EU president, Herman Van Rompuy."
#
#
lish Finance Wolfgang Schäuble and Christine Lagarde before an ECOFIN meeting in Brussels May 18, 2010. (Photo: John Thys)
[18/05/2010 9:39:56] BRUSSELS (AFP) The German and French Ministers of Finance Christine Lagarde Wolfgang Schäuble and Tuesday reacted cautiously to the idea of introducing a tax on financial transactions, on the sidelines of a meeting with their European counterparts in Brussels.
A tax on financial transactions can not work "so it makes sense that if implemented globally," said German Minister Wolfgang Schäuble. "And there is considerable doubt to reach a comprehensive agreement".
"But I'm still positive that we Europeans will advocate together for such a solution. The decisive date is the summit of Heads of State and Government (G20) in Canada in June.
His French counterpart Christine Lagarde said that "we must consider the taxation of banking and financial sector in general, as a whole, and pay close attention to the basis on which the tax is calculated.
Financial transactions "may not be the most effective way to calculate a tax or a tax," said Lagarde. There are other bases of calculations, "financial transactions are one, the balance sheets of banks is another, and on balance there are various methods that can be used.
In any event, "there must be no discrimination or no comparative advantage for banks or financial institutions that remain outside the tax field," said Lagarde.
In a letter sent last week to other European leaders, the president of the European Commission Jose Manuel Barroso appealed to Europe's G20 calls for a tax on financial institutions.
Mr Barroso will represent the EU at the G20 Toronto 26 and June 27, alongside the EU president, Herman Van Rompuy."
We all know about the stamp tax in Britain, which has all sorts of work arounds.
The point is the stance of U.K. leadership
The conservatives oppose the FTT
http://www.scribd.com/doc/31259205/Analysis-of-UK-Elections-and-Consequences-for-a-FTT
Gordon Brown favored it
that is a significant difference
"We all know about the stamp tax in Britain, which has all sorts of work arounds."
obviously u neglected to mention it in your post. the stamp tax is a FTT.
as to workarounds the fact that there are no prop shops to trade equities says it all. they are expensive. they take time to create.
there is an existing FTT in the UK and the british gov't is not looking to eliminate it and would be happy if other countries adopted it so the UK would not be at a disadvantage.
british influence on a global FTT if it exists at all are a big negative for traders in US equities.