Cameron Gambles on Promise of EU Vote - WSJ.com http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323539804578259203099915538.html Cameron Promises Britons a Referendum on E.U. Membership - NYTimes.com http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/24/world/europe/cameron-britain-referendum-european-union.html My Comment posted on each article. Financial-transaction taxes (FTT) played a key role in Cameron's speech and timing today. Yesterday, at the ECOFIN meeting, France and Germany finally won qualified majority voting (passage) of their FTT proposal among 11 EU members using a enhanced cooperation procedure. The EU tax commissioner is excited to apply their FTT on trades conducted in the UK. Cameron said no to this FTT at every juncture. It was the main reason he wouldn't sign Germany's inspired fiscal compact last year. London executes 70% or more of financial transactions in the EU. Germany, France and Brussells want to tax those transactions and end much of that fast trading. They threaten to put London into severe recession and to sacrifice the UK's greatest economic strength. If Churchill was alive he would call it financial war and bunker down to fight back. The problem is that Brixit won't stop the FTT attack from the continental eurozone. The extra-territorial reach of EU FTT will apply in New York and Chicago, too. That's why Cameron needs to threaten exit to defang the EU's FTT, to legislate out it's extra-territorial reach. But, then even more transactions will move to London. This is a huge fight!
Good for Cameron. This is what happens when Germans and French tried to impose total control over major EU partner with votes from Slovenia, Slovakia and Souvlaki. Full FTT implementation is doubtfull at this point as long as Cameron will win next election.
The tax - also known as a Tobin tax after the economist who originally came up with it 40 years ago - is expected to be charged at a rate of 0.1% of the value of any trade in shares or bonds, and 0.01% of any financial derivative contract. Although the tax is not being adopted by the UK, which already charges its own 0.5% stamp duty on trading in shares, it will nonetheless have to be paid by investors trading on the London Stock Exchange who are based in one of the 11 countries. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-21138494?
My Google Alert just came in on FTT. Huge number of articles today. Google it for the links. Hard to add each one on iPad Notice Rep. DeFazio is ready to ride EU EC-11 FTT coattails. If the UK turns to Labour in 2015, and Obama keeps diminishing Republicans to usher in a Democratic win of the House in 2014, it could be very dangerous for FTT expanding a lot. We need Cameron to beat this monster back. Democratic Lawmakers To Re-Introduce Financial Transactions Tax ThinkProgress http://thinkprogress.org/economy/20...troduce-financial-transactions-tax/?mobile=wt Democrats were unsuccessful in their push for a financial transactions tax after the 2008 financial crisis, but after 11 Eurozone countries received approval to institute such a tax Tuesday, two lawmakers are planning to try again. Rep. Peter DeFazio ... See all stories on this topic » ThinkProgress France Plans to Implement Financial Transaction Tax OANDA Forex (blog) France plans to implement a tax on financial transactions at the end of 2014 and believes the levy to be rolled out by 11 European countries will raise âtens of billions of eurosâ a year, its finance minister said. The 27-member European Union gave the ... See all stories on this topic » Eleven member states to go ahead with financial transaction tax after EU approval Out-Law.com "Today was about process, it was about moving the financial transaction tax forward through enhanced cooperation, but it was not about the content or the substance of any financial transaction tax," said Irish Finance Minister Michael Noonan on behalf ... See all stories on this topic » Moscovici: Transaction tax not before 2015 Deutsche Welle French Finance Minister Pierre Moscovici said on Wednesday the financial transaction tax agreed by 11 eurozone countries would take some two years to prepare thoroughly. Moscovici told French broadcasters BFMTV and RMC that the tax could not be ... See all stories on this topic » Deutsche Welle Financial Transactions Tax greenlighted by EU Bobsguide (press release) Financial Transactions Tax greenlighted by EU. A group of 11 European Union (EU) countries have given the go-ahead to proceed with the introduction of a financial transactions tax (FTT), despite the opposition of other EU members including the UK. See all stories on this topic » Bobsguide (press release) Financial transactions tax AFP EU finance ministers have given 11 nations a final go-ahead to launch a controversial financial transactions tax -- called also "Tobin Tax" -- seen by many as a way of making the finance sector pay for the economic crisis. The group were authorised to ... See all stories on this topic » Financial transactions tax by "end of 2014" - Europe Online Magazine Paris (dpa) - The financial transaction tax agreed by 11 eurozone countries will not be implemented before the "end of 2014," French Finance Minister Pierre Moscovici said Wednesday. However, Moscovici also noted that there was little stopping some ... See all stories on this topic » European Commission allows eleven countries to proceed with planned ... Opalesque Benedicte Gravrand, Opalesque Geneva: - The European Commission, the EU's executive arm, gave its accord to 11 member countries to go ahead with a planned Financial Transaction tax (FTT). Germany and France reportedly persuaded Spain, Italy, ... See all stories on this topic » Will the CFTC, SEC Follow Europe with a Transaction Tax? CFTC Law Now that eleven euro zone countries have approved a financial transaction tax, will U.S. regulators at the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commissino (CFTC) and the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) follow suit? Ironically, though the idea of a ... See all stories on this topic » CFTC Law EU progresses financial transaction tax Banking Times Eleven of the EU's 27 member states are asking for enhanced cooperation on a financial transaction tax (FTT). While there is insufficient support for an FTT throughout the EU, certain states are asking for the scope and objectives of such a tax to be ... See all stories on this topic »
The spewage to the sound bite consuming public is starting here. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45755822/#50568404 http://www.robinhoodtax.org/latest/we-need-real-economy
So they are going ahead with no extra-territorial reach? Meeting must have been held in an Amsterdam marijuana cafe. Still, that's about the only good news here.
It depends on what you call extra-territorial reach. -If it's taxing EU-11 based companies trading on worldwide exchange, it's the core of the commission's proposition, so it will be in the project. -If it's taxing every counterpart of a EU-11 company on any exchange, even in the original project last year there was an exception when there was no link to the EU-11 territory... and according to numerous source like FT, it's illegal so they( "officials" ) are now talking about weird stuff like agreeing on splitting the tax or making the EU-11 company pay the whole tax. - If it's taxing every product issued in EU-11 countries( even between 2 US persons for example ) , it wasn't in the original project. But it's the problem France Vs USA on ADRs.
I think its a bit early to guess what the final details will be. The French and Germans seem to be in no hurry, they are talking about 2 years before they iron it out all get around to implement it. At the least i think it will include a stock trading FTT (anywhere between 0.1 and 1%) .. but who knows what the details will be regarding bonds and derivatives, what will be the final scope, any exemptions and the actual tax rate on each instrument is anybody guess at this stage.
Sorry, can't copy and paste from the article (using my iPad). I'm referring to paragraphs 5 and 6 of the article which imply Britain and Switzerland will remain outside the scope, and the stuff about transactions moving to London; and companies in the FTT countries doing a minimum of transactions possible whilst moving most of them to their British or Swiss operations.