"Robin Hood tax" (aka "Tobin tax")

[Jog On]

I also think the argument that the additional cost due to the tax will make London uncompetitive is somewhat spurious. London has astronomical labour and property costs yet you don't see a mass exodus of city firms because of that.

We are still the financial capital of Europe though and that's not something we want to let the EU take away from us. If our financial services industry gets hit then things will be very bad for everyone.

bash the bankers and blame them for whatever you like, we need this sector more than ever to be robust.

[doodab]

Well it will have to be designed well enough for the Chinese to agree to it as well, and the yanks..

Knock yourself out tax designers!

No it doesn't. That's a political decision, it would be perfectly possible to levy a tax based on end user location that wouldn't put eu service providers at a disadvantage if implemented unilaterally.

[Jog On]

U.S. Lawmakers to Propose Financial-Transaction Tax on Firms - Businessweek

Two U.S. lawmakers will introduce measures to impose a transaction tax on financial firms that resembles a proposal released by the European Union.

Senator Tom Harkin, an Iowa Democrat, and Representative Peter DeFazio, an Oregon Democrat, will introduce the bills tomorrow in their respective chambers. The bills will give the United States an increased role in the international debate over a transaction tax, which is likely to be discussed at the Group of 20 summit this week in Cannes, France.

The bills are unlikely to become law: Republicans, who have opposed transaction taxes in the past, control a majority in the House. President Barack Obama’s administration has also voiced concerns over the proposal and declined to give a direct endorsement in advance of the G-20 summit that opens Nov. 3.

The chances a transaction tax could pass in the U.S. “are less than 50/50” primarily because of Republican opposition, Brian Gardner, senior vice president of research for Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Inc. in Washington, said in a Sept. 28 note to clients.

If they won't accept it I doubt we will. Osbourne has said that the only condition under which we would implement this is if it is done world wide.