Simon Lewis, chief executive, the Association for Financial Markets in Europe (AFME) said:
“We welcome the decision to make a legal challenge to the proposed financial transaction tax amongst 11 EU member states, under enhanced cooperation.
“This is a tax that will damage markets beyond the 11 states that are considering it, across Europe and also internationally. It will act as a brake on economic recovery by increasing costs to investors.
“All the evidence shows that the tax will have serious harmful economic effects in a number of ways: taxing securities will increase the cost of raising capital for Europe’s businesses and increase the cost of debt funding for both businesses and governments. In addition, taxing derivatives will have a negative impact on hedging transactions undertaken by the real economy in order to manage risk.”
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