The EC-11 are in a tight spot now. Where do they go from here? There seem to be to be only three options: 1. Scrap the FTT and perhaps make a pledge to examine alternative bank taxes. The only economically credible choice but politically very damaging. Unlikely. 2. Try to thrash out a watered down tax that all eleven can live with, perhaps like the French FTT. Still economically damaging but politically survivable. No guarantee that they can find a tax agreeable to all anyway. Possible. 3. Do what Mervyn King recently suggested will happen - propose a period of reflection and further study. Economically a cop out, politically survivable and in all likelihood killing off the FTT for good (who of the eleven will come back to this with any enthusiasm?). Highly plausible (IMO).
http://www.ai-cio.com/channel/REGUL...uld_Be_Reduced_By_8__Under_FTT_Proposals.html It's interesting to see that when real professionals start talking loud about the technical effect of the FTT, pro-articles seems to disappear. Necessarily, when you are nurse or a government worker and the only thing you know about finance is "HFT is bad" and "0.01% is a tiny tax", you must have a hard time talking about the implications of the disparition of the repo market...
[...]few in Brussels expect the FTT to be implemented as currently envisaged; privately banks are being told as much by some eurozone officials[...] [...]Special treatment for the repo market seems inevitable, either through exemptions or much lower tax rates. The dilemma in Brussels is that a less ambitious UK-style âstamp dutyâ would hit retail products such as equities while sparing the complex derivatives that are the FTTâs main target. âThey are searching for a graceful exit but it isnât easy to find,â says one senior EU official[...] [...]In Brussels, no outcome is being ruled out, and some kind of âRobin Hood taxâ could still emerge. âIt has dawned on everyone that this is difficult, risky,â says one senior official involved in the talks. âBut we have to do something. Weâve said too much.â http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/b8cdc3e6-bef9-11e2-87ff-00144feab7de.html
Sounds like the wheels are coming off this thing (LOL). I guess we'll see what happens with the German elections later this year. Let's hope they just stick a fork in it -Guru
Luxembourg May Take Legal Action Over FTT http://www.lowtax.net/asp/story/front/Luxembourg_May_Take_Legal_Action_Over_FTT____60818.html
The so-called 'Robin Hood Tax' will rob pensioners and small businesses not just bankers http://www.independent.co.uk/voices...mall-businesses-not-just-bankers-8625633.html Good to see such a reasonable article in the Independent - a paper not often inclined to be sympathetic towards finance.
EU finance tax set for delay of at least a year http://www.cityam.com/article/eu-finance-tax-set-delay-least-year