British PM urges global financial tax
Source: CBC News
Posted: 11/07/09 12:06PM
Filed Under: Top News
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown says a global tax on financial transactions should be considered to fund future bank bailouts.
In a speech Saturday to the Group of 20 finance ministers meeting in St. Andrews, Scotland, Brown said the tax could raise the level of accountability in the financial sector.
"I believe we should discuss whether we need a better economic and social contract to reflect the global responsibilities of financial institutions to society," Brown told the G20 ministers.
"It cannot be acceptable that the benefits of success in this sector are reaped by the few but the costs of its failure are borne by all of us," he said.
Brown said a tax on financial transactions would need to be implemented globally.
"Let me be clear: Britain will not move unless others move with us together," he said of the levy, modelled after the so-called Tobin tax proposed by American economist James Tobin in the early 1970s as a way of curbing speculation on financial markets.
Following the talks, G20 finance officials issued a statement in which they pledged to maintain emergency support for their economies until global recovery is assured.
The statement said economic and financial conditions have improved, but it stressed that recovery is "uneven and remains dependent on policy support." High unemployment remains a major concern, the ministers said.
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