Luxembourg to back British legal challenge to financial transaction tax

Luxembourg will support Britain’s legal challenge to Europe’s proposed financial transaction tax, the country’s finance minister Luc Frieden said yesterday.

As Europe’s largest financial centre, London has the most to lose if finance firms move their trading operations to parts of the world free from such taxes.

“We are very sympathetic to the stance of the UK ... We will certainly bring our support to the case that has been started in the European Court of Justice,” Frieden said during a question and answer session at the City Week banking conference.