Financial Transaction Tax

The European Union launched in 2011 the initiative to introduce a financial transaction tax (FTT). While this initiative did not find sufficient support in all EU Member States, eleven Member States decided nevertheless to pursue the introduction of the FTT in their respective territories (the 'FTTzone') under the 'enhanced cooperation procedure'. In this framework, a revised proposal for Council Directive on FTT was published by the European Commission on 14 February 2013 (the 'Proposal'). The eleven EU Member States are Austria, Belgium, Estonia, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia and Spain. Other countries may still decide to join the FTT-zone. The FTT will, under its currently proposed form, however, also have a significant impact in other EU and non-EU countries outside the FTT-zone.