A financial transaction tax – often called a Tobin Tax – which was proposed by the European Commission in October 2011, would hurt European trading venues, according to experts. However the UK’s threat to veto a Europe-only tax, means that a regional stamp duty is a more likely prospect.

The outline for a common system of financial transaction tax was put forward by the Commission in the autumn, in the form of a pan-European directive. The Commission argued for the tax on the basis it would create income for the European Union budget, and disincentivise so-called speculation.