August 2010

Reflecting on Global Progress

Dear Supporter,

As we head into August and many are off on summer breaks, we want to reflect onthe rollercoaster past few weeks and look forward to the next phase of Stamp OutPoverty's campaigning that will kick off in September.Most significantly for us, the Currency Transaction Levy (CTL) has been rising fastup the political agenda and promises to be a hot topic in coming months. You canread our brief global roundup below.

International

We took a major step towards the introduction of a CTL when a reportcommissioned by a group of 12 countries, including the UK, called for a currencylevy to be implemented to tackle poverty and climate change.Commissioned by the Taskforce of the Leading Group on Innovative Financing for Development, the report highlights that a CTL is not only simple to implement, butthat such a tax already exists. Foreign exchange transactions between banks arenearly all processed via one high-security international computer system (CLSbank) and this system already collects a per-transaction fee of 22 cents per milliondollars traded.The release of this report is a big campaign win and we will continue to workclosely with the Leading Group and ensure a clear timetable for its implementationis set.Click hereto read the Guardian article about the report.

In the UK

In the Emergency Budget on 22 June, George Osborne announced a £2.5 billion ayear bank levy. This is far less than the financial sector can afford to pay, however,

the government has already signalled it is prepared to go further, potentiallyintroducing atax on excessive bank profits and salaries. This represents a major

opportunity in the coming months.

he Robin Hood

ax campaign

As you know, Stamp Out Poverty has played a central role in the Robin Hood Taxcampaign and we should reflect on the remarkable progress it has made in first fewmonths of its life. With aFacebook group of more than 200,000, over a million

people having seen the original Bill Nighy film and tens of thousands of emailsreaching MPs, we should be proud of the foundations we have built.

Europe

EU member States are united in calling for levies to be introduced on the financialsector. A special meeting of EU Finance Ministerswill be held in September to

flesh out the details, which follows hot on the heels of the EU Parliament backingtough new rules on banker bonuses.

United States

The Obama administration is pressing ahead with its plan to introduce a levy onbanks of $9 billion a year. With mid-term elections likely to weaken the Obamaadministration in November though, it is not yet a done deal.On 20 July, Congressman Pete Stark introduced a bill that would put a 0.005% taxon all foreign exchange transactions by large-scale traders in the US. Called the'Investing in Our Future Act of 2010¶ it would direct tens of billions of dollars to

development and climate change adaptation and mitigation.

he months ahead...

We firmly believe concerted action by the Robin Hood Tax campaign can make theUK government significantly increase the contribution made by the financial sector and ensure that this money goes to tackling poverty and climate change.On the international stage, key events such as the UN MDGs Summit in New York,the G20 Summit in Seoul and France¶s µMakePovertyHistory¶ year in 2011 (whenthey will host both the G8 and the G20), mean there are some important campaignmoments fast approaching.In short, let¶s recharge our batteries so we can redouble our efforts fromSeptember onwards.

Happy holidays,

he Stamp Out Poverty team