Ethical Currency: Tobin Tax Could Raise $30bn a Year

November 11, 2009 6:52 AM EST

LONDON--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- While Brown's move to support global transaction taxes is both bold and popular, it may prove difficult to implement. The financial transaction levy that Brown is supporting, would apply to all banking and financial transactions including currency exchanges. This is being incorrectly labelled as a Tobin tax, something that applies only to currency transactions.

Alastair Constance, founder of Ethical Currency:

A Currency Transaction Levy (CTL) would apply purely to foreign exchange transactions and could be implemented rapidly. Our own research has shown that at the level of 0.005%, such a tax would create a new and sustainable source of funding for global poverty alleviation, at little cost to the financial sector.

Consequently, Ethical Currency has voluntarily adopted this tax, by committing 0.005% of all its foreign exchange transactions to charities that deal specifically with the delivery of Millennium Development Goals 4, 5 and 6. If governments internationally imposed a currency transaction levy, this could raise around $30bn a year - enough to enable the G8 countries to meet their commitment at the Gleneagles summit in 2005 to double global aid."

Anton Kerr, Policy Manager, Aids Alliance:

"We commend Ethical Currency for taking the lead and demonstrating how simple it is to implement the currency transaction levy. If applied to all sterling trades the CTL would provide the urgent resources needed to keep the health and development promises the G8 have made."

To arrange a comment from or interview / meeting with Alastair please contact TopLine Communications.

    Source: Ethical Currency

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