TRANSACTIONS TAX IDEA DISCUSSED AT HOME AND ABROAD

French President Nicolas Sarkozy, speaking about his plans for the French presidency of the Group of 20 in 2011 at his palace earlier this week, stated that the country will “fight for” a multilateral tax on financial transactions, in order to combat market speculation and volatility and to fund development.  France has an ambitious plan that includes innovative ways to use taxes to raise funds for development, and in particular for upholding promises that wealthier countries have made to help poorer countries adapt to climate change.  Sarkozy considers this transaction tax idea to be a moral issue, and acknowledged that this could push some transactions into less-regulated markets.

Similarly, the co-director of the Center for Economic Policy Research (Dean Baker) urged President Obama to also endorse the idea of a financial transactions tax.  Baker framed the idea as a means of reducing the U.S. budget deficit, and not as an ethical concept.  He noted that the tax would have nominal impact on the average taxpayer, and yet would raise as much as $150 billion a year.  The United Kingdom already has a financial transactions tax in place, and Baker pointed out that the London Stock Exchange is still the most heavily traded in Europe.  He acknowledged that some transactions have certainly shifted to other countries, but “apparently investors view the benefits of trading on the London exchange as being valuable enough to outweigh the cost of the tax.”  Baker  went on to add that, “[p]resumably this would be even more true in the case of the United States since the U.S. market is even larger.”

Topics From Full Report Include:
FINANCIAL CRISIS INQUIRY COMMISSION RELEASES FINDINGS
SENATE BUDGET COMMITTEE GRILLS CBO DIRECTOR
HOUSE REPUBLICANS TAKE AIM AT DODD-FRANK REGS IN FIRST HEARING OF HOUSE FINANCIAL SERVICES COMMITTEE
FRANK LASHES OUT AT GOP FOR ATTEMPTS TO OBSTRUCT DODD-FRANKS REGS
SEC PUBLISHES STUDY ON INVESTOR ACCESS TO INFO ON INVESTMENT PROS
TRANSACTIONS TAX IDEA DISCUSSED AT HOME AND ABROAD
SEC PROPOSES REPORTING REQUIREMENTS FOR CERTAIN ADVISERS
1099 REPEAL BILLS INTRODUCED IN THE SENATE
GARRETT, FRANK EXPRESS FRUSTRATION WITH LACK OF PROGRESS ON GSE REFORM
SECURITIES LAWYERS URGE SELF-FUNDING FOR SEC
UPCOMING HEARINGS

Click To Download The Full Report