Keith Lawson, ICI Global Senior Counsel, Taxation, comments on the Council of the European Union Legal Service opinion regarding the current Financial Transaction Tax proposal under consideration by some EU member countries…

We welcome today’s well-reasoned opinion of the European Union Council’s Legal Service that the proposed Financial Transaction Tax violates several principles of European law. Specifically, this opinion supports our long-held view that the proposal would have extraordinary extraterritorial impact.  

We will continue to engage closely with policymakers regarding the many negative effects that a financial transaction tax would have on individual fund investors, pension funds, issuers, and the markets.