FRANKFURT (MNI) – Governments must give markets clarity on a
possible financial transaction tax as soon as possible, Bundesbank Board
member Andreas Dombret said Friday.
“I urge the governments to make final decisions regarding a
financial transaction tax as the market place would benefit from clarity
on this issue,” Dombret said in a speech text prepared for delivery at a
conference on Global Financial Market Regulation in Berlin.
Dombret cautioned that the positive impact of a financial
transaction tax may be limited if the tax were not widely applied.
“If not introduced globally — or at least at the most important
financial centres — such a tax would set incentives to relocate either
parts of the business or firms altogether. In turn, actual revenues
generated by the tax will probably be lower than projected and
competition between financial centres be distorted,” Dombret said.
France has been pushing for the introduction of a financial
transaction in the EU, but UK Prime Minister David Cameron said he would
veto any such tax in the absence of a global deal.
While German chancellor Angela Merkel supports France push, it is
unclear whether Germany would join France in introducing a financial
transaction tax that does not apply in other EU countries. France has
signalled it may be willing to go alone, assuming that others would
follow.
Dombret noted significant progress in financial market regulation
including new Basel III rules and said that “the focus at the global
level is increasingly shifting from policy development to implementation
monitoring.”
“Rigorous implementation monitoring by international bodies is
indispensable for ensuring global level playing fields in financial
market regulation and achieving the goal to counteract financial
stability risks,” he said.
–Frankfurt bureau tel.: +49-69-720142. Email: jtreeck@marketnews.com
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