IMF suggests mechanism for taxing financial industry

[anigbrowl]

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/21/business/global/21imf.html?src=busln

(...)

The I.M.F. and the World Bank will hold their annual spring meetings this weekend. The finance ministers and central bankers from the Group of 20 countries will meet in Washington on Friday for a discussion that is expected to revolve around changes in financial regulation.

In the report, the I.M.F. suggests that a surcharge or levy on large, complex financial institutions, based on their interconnectedness and the degree of risk they pose to the financial system, could help ensure the system’s safety.

While the I.M.F. was careful to say it was “not necessarily endorsing” the surcharge, its publication of a methodology to assess how such a fee would be designed could lend support to an effort by Prime Minister Gordon Brown of Britain, who in November proposed a global bank fee to recoup the costs of the 2008 bailouts.

[ZeitgeistObserver]

1. The 'Robin Hood tax.'

Formerly known as the Tobin Tax.

[anigbrowl]

2. Kick...I'm rather surprised this hasn't attracted more comment, because it's a big deal.