17/01/2014
Financial derivative products to escape FTT
Some financial derivative products may be exempt from the financial transaction tax (FTT), Reuters reports, on the basis of a document it has obtained. The exemption would aim to avoid penalising the sovereign debt markets. Several countries are concerned about seeing the institution of a financial transaction tax disrupt their debt markets, while the debt crisis appears to be fading. Documents explain that it is difficult to determine the moment at which derivative contracts will be taxed, whether it be its date of creation, the date of the transaction it concerns, or its date of expiration. The document procured by Reuters also plans to exempt the corporate bond tax, in orde to avoid “nefarious effects on the financing capacity of businesses, also taking into consideration difficulties in finding financing from the banking sector in the current climate.”Securitised debt, which some heads of central banks would like to promote in order to facilitate the financing of the economy, may also be exempted, the document continues.
