The self-servicing top tax court in the UK (ominousely called 'Special Commissioners') has just issued an order to the foreign banks located in the country to hand over details of accounts held by British citizens in their foreign branches or other operations. Apart from the question whether these foreign operations are legally entitled to pass on any information we wonder what this threat (and we expect protracted legal wrangeling) will do to damage the standing of the City of London as a financial centre. The endlessly growing power of politicians over the life of citizens used to stop at the border of the respective country, now we seem to move into the era of 'Ueber' Socialism - at least in some countries. Given that taxes on individuals and companies are comparatively less attractive in the UK than in the past we expect the relative standing of the UK's financial markets to decline. The tipping point is still far away but it is getting nearer with every ill-considered move by the politicians and their appointees.
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