"Insurers attack IMF levy on financial sector"

[WhiskeyGirl]

Tim Breedon, chief executive of Legal & General, Lord Levene, chairman of Lloyd's, and Andrew Moss, chief executive of Aviva, said the International Monetary Fund's tax proposals should not be levied on insurance firms which have taken no taxpayers' money.

To do so would be "absurd" and "unfair", the insurance leaders said, and will punish customers because increased costs would have to be passed on.

How long before sound companies are asked to pay more in the US to keep the Wall Street casino going?

Last week the IMF announced proposals for two new global taxes – a levy to cover any future bailouts and new taxes on profits and remuneration. The IMF said the new taxes, which will cost firms many millions of pounds, would be imposed irrespective of which part of the sector the firms operated in.

"Insurance companies are not banks, and should not be treated as such by the regulators and politicians," Mr Breedon told The Sunday Telegraph.

"This is a case of mistaken identity," Mr Moss said. "It's like being fined for speeding when you've never been behind the wheel."

more here - http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/banksandfinance/insurance/7628658/Insurers-attack-IMF-levy-on-financial-sector.html

In Obamacare, honest folks have to pay for those that speed and drive without insurance.

Who keeps government honest?

[WhiskeyGirl]

In the IMF's own words: "Even with strengthened regulation and supervision there will be failures of financial institutions. The potential costs of these failures should be borne by the financial sector."

The Bretton Woods body has proposed two taxes and, no doubt, Gordon Brown is grinning from ear to ear. He first endorsed a levy at St Andrews in November last year, and then hit the banks with a bonus tax in December. Both are loosely replicated in the IMF paper delivered to G20 leaders on Tuesday. Titled A Fair and Substantial Contribution by the Financial Sector, it even sounds like something out of HM Treasury.

The  IMF has suggested two taxes. The first, the Financial Stability Contribution (FSC), would be a levy on a bank's liabilties excluding equity capital and retail deposits, much like President Barack Obama's proposal last year. Steven Hayne, banks analyst at Morgan Stanley estimates that a levy replicating the Swedish model would cost UK banks over £1bn annually while a US approach could be a multiple of that.

The second, a Financial Activities Tax (FAT), would be on "profits above a 'normal' level and high remuneration". "It's anyone's guess how much that would raise," one analyst said.

Maybe this is why Obama wants to know about all your expenses above $600?  Can't spend the profits on yourself, your company, or your employee, because Obama want's it all?

more here - http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/banksandfinance/7615746/IMFs-proposed-taxes-on-banks-are-guaranteed-to-make-Gordon-Brown-smile.html