The tax has reportedly proved a boon for derivatives desks at some dealers. They are said to be seeing an increase in clients looking to trade equity swaps or CFDs, which allow leveraged, synthetic exposure to movements in the underlying French equities without having to pay the tax.
"What appears to be happening is that the hedge fund and prop trading segment of the market is increasingly looking to CFDs as an alternative. One client estimated there's been about a 20-25% increase in CFD volumes," says Tony Freeman, executive director for industry relations at post-trade software vendor Omgeo in London.
"What appears to be happening is that the hedge fund and prop trading segment of the market is increasingly looking to CFDs as an alternative. One client estimated there's been about a 20-25% increase in CFD volumes," says Tony Freeman, executive director for industry relations at post-trade software vendor Omgeo in London.
http://www.risk.net/risk-magazine/news/2227784/france-warns-on-use-of-derivatives-to-evade-new-transaction-tax