Sarkozy and Brown squeeze bankers

Having published a co-written article in the Wall Street Journal, Nicolas Sarkozy and Gordon Brown are now presenting themselves as proponents of a tax on financial transactions, explains Les Echos. France rallied to the British proposal to tax 2009 banking industry bonuses at a rate of 50%, and both countries are attempting to persuade other EU member states to follow suit. It remains to be seen whether the German Chancellor will join the chorus. The French business daily reports that when questioned on the subject, "Angela Merkel described the idea 'charming,' as though she was not fully convinced." In its editorial Les Echos argues that "the tax is an acknowledgement of the failure […] of efforts undertaken since the beginning of the financial crisis to tame an industry whose excesses precipitated the current global recession"— and its impact on the banking industry may be exaggerated. In an extensive feature on the vast and prosperous community of French expatriate bankers who are working in London, the Guardian reports that they may not pleased by the latest measure, but none of them are planning to leave the City anytime soon.