As EU-11 FTT comes closer, many participants and those effected are worried it will hurt their interests, which includes bank lending to business. The mainstay argument for FTT is to "make banks pay for the 2007-2009 financial crisis." Maybe it's time the EU follow the U.S. lead. President Obama proposed a direct bank tax/fee over FTT. When he didn't get that his justice department and regulators sued the banks for 10s of billions. The EU banks seem equally guilty in Libor, FX manipulation, and housing CDOs and derivatives. Why not just sue them and give up FTT? If they are guilty, they will settle and pay. Let's be done with that affair.
IMO the EU-11 FTT isn't coming any closer. Semeta is desperately trying to get every country in line, but it appears they all want something else. In retrospect, France going at its own stamp tax alone, has been a blessing in disguise, as they only appear to still want to join a Europe-wide initiative if it's based on their design. Let's hope it stays that way.
I agree. Semeta is making concessions after concessions, first he agrees to exempt some derivatives, now it seems he agrees to have some kind of stamp duty first...Most of the politicians are starting to make money back on their savings with stock markets at new highs, so "the market is not that bad in the end"...And even if the 11 agrees on some really perverse design( really unlikely ), they will still have to make it enforcable in non participating countries...So count an other 2 years for the first part and 5 for the second( if any )...LOL...The problem is more that they are still spending our money discussing that crap.
http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_SPEECH-14-92_en.htm Even Semeta is now calling for compromise while blaming the 11 member states for not doing enough.
Too late...A lot of firms are or have already relocated outside of EU and not just because of this but also because of new reporting obligations and hft rules in Germany.
compromise will not help the retail trader who will be screwed. there are thousands of posts on this subject and so called traders still don't get it
It is quite amazing that all countries which have implemented the various forms of Tobin tax, have repealed it after it resulted in a reduction in overall tax revenues. Seems fools are born anew each day with no memory nor capacity to appreciate the benfits of efficient historical research.