BRUSSELS (MNI) – European policymakers shouldn’t introduce a
financial transaction tax and shouldn’t be too harsh in the treatment of
credit ratings agencies, Swedish finance minister Anders Borg said on
Friday.
“We have not changed our stance on this,” the Swedish minister told
reporters at a briefing after a meeting of EU finance ministers and
central bankers here on Friday, where taxing financial transactions and
credit ratings agencies were topics on the agenda.
He said the idea of introducing a financial transaction tax was
“unworkable.”
“We would not introduce a financial transaction tax if [the
Eurozone] did it, and I presume the UK would do the same” as Sweden, he
said.
He opposed the idea, he said because, “you will see less liquidity
in the market…which means that the balance [sheets] of the banks would
be even less transparent.”
On credit ratings agencies, which were also a topic of the meeting,
Borg said “I don’t mind if we would push for further competition and
higher quality” in the rating agencies.
“The main problem is public finances” he said, adding that
policymakers had to be clear what was a symptom and what was the cause
of problems in the sovereign debt markets.
He said he strongly backed the European Commission’s proposals on
better regulation, but that more discussion on hedge fund regulation was
needed before a compromise could be reached.
–Brussels: 0032 487 (0) 32 803 665, echarlton@marketnews.com
[TOPICS: MT$$$$,M$$FX$,M$$EC$,M$X$$$,M$$CR$,MGX$$$]
