EC 'quite confident' on UK ftt adoption:
http://www.gfsnews.com/article/3216/1/EC__quite_confident__on_UK_FTT_adoption
A senior member of the European Commission has said he is "quite confident" that the British government will eventually approve an EU-wide financial transaction tax.
"The UK has publicly voiced its disapproval with a number of new measures brought in since the financial crisis, only to then agree to implement them, Olivier Guersent told delegates at Global Financial Strategy's banking debate last week."
"Chancellor George Osborne has previously said the UK could only support an FTT if it was introduced on a global scale. However rival trading centres including the US and Canada have ruled out possibly introducing the levy."
"Without the UK's support, European financial centres such as the Netherlands, Sweden and Ireland are seen as unlikely to agree to introduce the tax."
Speaking alongside Guersent on the panel, European Banking Federation secretary general Guido Ravoet said that the FTT is a "fair tax" given that the banking sector does not have to pay VAT.
However the EBF could only support the tariff if it was introduced worldwide, he said, to ensure that European banks do not lose out compared with their international rivals.
"I appreciate that commissioner Barnier and the commission will put it on the agenda of the G20 in Cannes in order to convince their colleagues to introduce it, but we very much have doubts that our US colleagues will accept the introduction of an FTT.
"That leaves us with a strong risk that businesses will be relocated, because some of the financial businesses are easily moving to another financial centre - that is actually our biggest worry about it."
I guess time will tell whether the UK rolls over and caves into the EU ftt demands. I still say no.
-Guru
http://www.gfsnews.com/article/3216/1/EC__quite_confident__on_UK_FTT_adoption
A senior member of the European Commission has said he is "quite confident" that the British government will eventually approve an EU-wide financial transaction tax.
"The UK has publicly voiced its disapproval with a number of new measures brought in since the financial crisis, only to then agree to implement them, Olivier Guersent told delegates at Global Financial Strategy's banking debate last week."
"Chancellor George Osborne has previously said the UK could only support an FTT if it was introduced on a global scale. However rival trading centres including the US and Canada have ruled out possibly introducing the levy."
"Without the UK's support, European financial centres such as the Netherlands, Sweden and Ireland are seen as unlikely to agree to introduce the tax."
Speaking alongside Guersent on the panel, European Banking Federation secretary general Guido Ravoet said that the FTT is a "fair tax" given that the banking sector does not have to pay VAT.
However the EBF could only support the tariff if it was introduced worldwide, he said, to ensure that European banks do not lose out compared with their international rivals.
"I appreciate that commissioner Barnier and the commission will put it on the agenda of the G20 in Cannes in order to convince their colleagues to introduce it, but we very much have doubts that our US colleagues will accept the introduction of an FTT.
"That leaves us with a strong risk that businesses will be relocated, because some of the financial businesses are easily moving to another financial centre - that is actually our biggest worry about it."
I guess time will tell whether the UK rolls over and caves into the EU ftt demands. I still say no.
-Guru
