Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Sarkozy calls for bank 'Tobin tax'

James Moore
Tuesday 25 January 2011 01:00 GMT
Comments

The French President Nicolas Sarkozy opened his presidency of the G20 group of nations yesterday by calling for a $100bn (£62bn) tax on banks. The so-called "Tobin tax" on transactions has been championed by organisations such as Oxfam and the TUC, but the financial services industry vehemently opposes it.

It came as the banking industry sought to launch a fightback against recent criticism. Industry sources said a deal on small-business lending – expected this week – would likely be announced next week, while the City of London Corporation published research saying London made a net contribution of £1.4bn to the UK exchequer last year. It said that would rise sharply in future years. Barclays is also considering radical reforms to the way it pays bonuses, although a spokesman said this was not finalised.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in