Prime minister David Cameron has reiterated British opposition to a European financial transactions tax (FTT), saying it is “not a good idea”.
He fears it could damage the UK’s financial services sector and Europe’s global competitiveness.
The FTT aims to discourage speculative trading by taxing transactions of shares, currencies and bonds.
Speaking at a conference in London, he said a FTT would encourage financial firms to relocate outside the EU.
In April, the UK government launched a legal challenge against the plans in the European Court of Justice.
The tax would not work unless it was “applied globally”, he said.
Of 27 EU member states only 11 have signed up to the proposals: Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Belgium, Austria, Portugal, Greece, Slovenia, Slovakia and Estonia.
Business lobby groups are concerned that UK firms trading with the UK branches of French or German banks could be hit by the tax
via BBC
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