About a-team Marketing Services
The knowledge platform for the financial technology industry
The knowledge platform for the financial technology industry

A-Team Insight Blogs

Why Boris’ Stamp Duty Axe is Irrelevant with an EU FTT Just Around the Corner

Subscribe to our newsletter

By Daniel Carpenter, Head of Regulation at Meritsoft (a Cognizant company).

The race to become Conservative Party leader, and thus Prime Minister, enters into its final stretch, policy ideas are inevitably being thrown around like confetti. As a classic case in point, Boris Johnson has recently pledged to scrap the UK’s Stamp Duty tax, which currently slaps a 0.5% tax on equities trades over £1,000. Undoubtedly this will be met fondly from the industry, but when it comes to taxes, banks need to look more closely at pending implementations, rather than cuts.

Take Financial Transaction Taxes (FTTs). After years of dither and delay, EU finance ministers picked up their discussions for a 0.2% tax at the Council of Economic and Financial Affairs, and now both France and Germany are lobbying for the tax. Similarly, across the pond, Bernie Sanders has put forward an outline for a sweeping FTT plan to finance his education policies. And while it’s unclear what other FTTs may crop up globally if these are introduced, there is no question that FTTs are increasingly coming to the forefront of political discussion.

With this in mind, how best can financial institutions be ready to tackle FTTs? All too often, banks have looked for a quick solution to adhere to a new tax and have failed to revisit the problem until the rules change and it becomes a necessity. In the case of so many pending FTTs globally, now is the ideal time to take a long term view on how to tackle the complexities of tax from an operational perspective.

The technological requirements to calculate all tax bills accurately and consistently are huge and often tricky to implement, particularly when needed from scratch on short term notice, which is entirely possible if the EU give the green light to an FTT. Banks need an effective single system in place to manage the wider transaction tax issue. Many will not have the capability to adapt existing systems for an EU-wide hit on all equity, derivative and fixed income trading. At this point, allocating resources to build on existing systems will be money well spent in the long run.

Similarly, there’s no point in trying to juggle these issues on an individual basis. The global financial landscape is changing and there is an undeniable trend of protectionism. Trying to keep pace with all regulation can be exhausting as well as costly and this only gets worse when trying to tackle multiple different taxes with a number of different solutions. Banks should resist leaving themselves at risk of being in a position where they are running multiple systems managing various tax rules. It could be a huge operational headache.

Being flexible and able to adapt readily to any tax changes will prove hugely useful in an ever-increasingly competitive environment. Regardless of whether the Stamp Duty is changed or not, with the EU and others banging the drum for FTTs, banks have enough to think about when it comes to tax. Only a fully-automated and easily scalable tax calculating engine will enable industry players to keep on top of their operations with vigilance.

Subscribe to our newsletter

Related content

WEBINAR

Upcoming Webinar: Managing Non-Financial Misconduct Under SMCR

9 October 2025 11:00am ET | 3:00pm London | 4:00pm CET Duration: 50 Minutes Non-financial misconduct—encompassing behaviours such as bullying, sexual harassment, and discrimination is a key focus of the Senior Managers and Certification Regime (SMCR). The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has underscored that such misconduct is not only unethical but also poses significant risks...

BLOG

How RegTech has Shaped Compliance in a Year of Global Regulatory Changes

2024 has been a transformative year for the regulatory landscape marked by major updates to trade reporting rules across the globe. Leo Labeis, CEO of REGnosys, reflects on the year and discusses how firms can harness RegTech solutions to stay prepared for ongoing regulatory evolution. While some will remember 2024 as “the year the world...

EVENT

RegTech Summit London

Now in its 9th year, the RegTech Summit in London will bring together the RegTech ecosystem to explore how the European capital markets financial industry can leverage technology to drive innovation, cut costs and support regulatory change.

GUIDE

AI in Capital Markets: Practical Insight for a Transforming Industry – Free Handbook

AI is no longer on the horizon – it’s embedded in the infrastructure of modern capital markets. But separating real impact from inflated promises requires a grounded, practical understanding. The AI in Capital Markets Handbook 2025 provides exactly that. Designed for data-driven professionals across the trade life-cycle, compliance, infrastructure, and strategy, this handbook goes beyond...