French President Nicolas Sarkozy is set to announce on Friday the introduction of a tax on bank bonuses modeled after the British one, said the French Minister of Economy in an interview with the International Herald Tribune.
Britain announced on Wednesday that it intends to introduce a 50% tax on bank bonuses exceeding £25,000 ($40,610)."We have long advocated for the introduction of such a tax and we are very pleased that British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has taken this stance," said French Minister Christine Lagarde in an interview with IHT."President Sarkozy believes it is bold for Brown to decide to take on the powerful London financial center, the City," she added. British Prime Minister Brown and French President Sarkozy met for about thirty minutes before the EU summit and fully agree that a tax on bank bonuses should be introduced, reported a spokesman for the British Prime Minister on Thursday. (H)
