TAX NEWS - JUNE 2010

G20 remains divided on global bank tax

by Greg Robb, 02 June 2010 -- The Group of 20 major economies will not reach an agreement on a global bank tax at their meeting in South Korea this weekend, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said Wednesday. "There is not universal support for that bank tax across the G-20 at least at this stage and I don't think that is going to change in Korea," Geithner told reporters prior to his departure for the meeting.

Geithner said the U.S. would seek to accelerate the global consensus over key financial regulation issues during the two days of talks. He said divisions within the group over bank capital standards had narrowed in recent days. Geithner said financial markets should be aware that the G-20 is committed to fiscal consolidation over the medium term. Deficit reduction must be "growth friendly," he said. Finance officials and central bankers from the G-20 will meet in Busan, South Korea, on June 4-5 to lay the groundwork for the bloc's leaders summit in Canada later in the month.