Below you will find a series of recent articles on the financial transactions tax (FTT):
The Introduction of an International Financial Transaction Tax
The TUAC secretariat has prepared a paper which provides background information on proposals to create a financial transactions tax (FTT) that received support from some heads of state at the G20 Summit in Pittsburgh in September. The G20 implicitly gave the IMF a mandate to study the FTT when it requested that the Fund prepare a report on "options countries have adopted or are considering as to how the financial sector could make a fair and substantial contribution toward paying for any burdens associated with government interventions to repair the banking system". TUAC's paper summarizes the history of the original Tobin tax idea, the current proposal for a broader FTT as a response to the global financial crisis and initial reactions from the IMF.
Click here to download the TUAC paper providing background information on proposals to create a financial transactions tax (FTT): Download 07iii_Taxation
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IMF to Assess G-20 Progress on Recovery, Mulls Financial Levy
Finance officials from the Group of 20 (G-20) industrialized and emerging market economies pledged to maintain economic stimulus measures until recovery from the global crisis is assured and asked the IMF to assess whether countries were on track for delivering strong, sustainable, and balanced growth to avoid future problems.
More here: http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/survey/so/2009/NEW110709A.htm
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EXCLUSIVE: IMF exploring insurance levy on banks
The International Monetary Fund is exploring the idea of making banks pay insurance fees to fund any future rescues in the sector, IMF managing director Dominique Strauss-Kahn said on Sunday.
He said such a tax would be in line with a proposal at the weekend by British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, who urged world governments to consider imposing a levy on banks.
More here: http://www.reuters.com/article/reutersComService4/idUSTRE5A82C520091109
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UPDATE 1-UK's Brown-transaction tax just one option for banks
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said on Tuesday banks must be made to act responsibly but that a levy on transactions was only one possible way of achieving this.
Brown floated, to a weekend meeting of G20 finance ministers, a series of ways of getting banks to start repaying some of the enormous cash injections they have received over the last year and build up funds to deal with future bailouts.
The U.S. and Canada, however, both voiced strong opposition to one of the ideas -- a tax on financial transactions that has already been championed by Germany and France. Some British newspapers have judged that a defeat for Brown.
More here: http://www.reuters.com/article/rbssFinancialServicesAndRealEstateNews/idUSLA42496820091110
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