Again I dont see how this is a solution to anything. "We wont kill you until a few years after the rest" Remaining so consistent in their pursuit of high rates in the face of the now, well known consequences, may not be such a bad thing.
Financial transaction tax won't see daylight -German bank lobby http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/07/04/germany-banks-tax-idUSL5N0FA1B620130704
In the last draft, FX spot was exempt from the tax. Swaps, forwards and other derivatives would be covered. But, according to german comments, taxing OTC products is off the table, at least in the initial phase. This tax is probably dead in the water anyways.
A 1 second minimum would reduce a lot of the garbage we currently see on the equity markets. Any HFT that can't tolerate trading at almost-human speeds should be out of the market. Place/cancelling 4000 times a second is simply unjustifiable spam. A 1-second minimum resting period would wipe that out wholesale. Internalization is a much bigger problem for US equities. The ever-increasing rates of internalization mean that, absent any brakes on it, we're headed for a world in which you can only trade with your broker -- at whatever price they decide they'd like to give you. We all know how that works out for the client. A transaction tax, on the other hand, would punish ordinary US equity investors (and the companies they invest in). It's also a power play on behalf of certain politicians and NGO heads, further centralizing power and shrinking the private sector for the "benefit of the people" -- "give me all the power and I'll do what's right for you, the ever-more dependent masses [wink, wink]". Quote stuffing, internalization, and other bad behavior instigate some support for the transaction tax on the part of the uninformed/manipulated masses. Why not fix the problems directly rather than killing off (or at least hobbling) what has been an overall well-functioning system that's historically benefitted both investors and job-producing companies?
We are going to tax the entire EU and world! Fine, we will just have it in 11 countrys and tax the whole world! Fine, we will scale it back by 90%. Fine, we wont scale it back but we wont introduce it in pensions funds for 3 years beyond every one else. Fine, we will change it so the entire EU has it.
http://reuters.com/article/idINL6N0FM38420130716?irpc=932 I don't suppose the fact that the UK does more currency trading than it's next four competitors combined has anything to do with this ....