On February 8, the French government released details of a proposed financial transaction tax (FTT). The proposal will be considered by the French parliament and, if passed, will impose taxes on certain transactions in shares and other financial instruments, as well as on high frequency trading (HFT).

The government has until the end of the current parliamentary session on March 22 to get legislative approval for the FTT. Given the tight legislative timeframe, it is possible that the bill will still be pending when the session ends, in which case it will be shelved until after France’s presidential and parliamentary elections which will take place between April and June 2012.

France, supported by eight other European Union (EU) member states, has proposed that an FTT be implemented by the EU. This proposal will be considered at EU level later this year. These nine countries could, under the EU’s “enhanced cooperation” rules, act collectively to impose an FTT across their economies, although they would not be able to impose an FTT on other EU member states.

Please see full article below for more information.