In two separate letters, one to New Jersey State Senate President Stephen Sweeney, the other to New Jersey General Assembly Member John McKeon, ADISA joins a number of other trade associations writing to express strong opposition to S.2902/A.4402, which would impose a tax on high-quantity processors of financial transactions.

The undersigned organizations urged the Assembly to consider the following before moving forward with the proposed legislation:

• Effect on Investors. S.2902/A.4402 would impose a tax that runs counter to many longstanding New Jersey policies promoting personal savings and economic growth.
• Revenue Decline. Faced with an FTT in New Jersey, firms are more likely to use alternate trading platforms to offer a better price for their client; this could result in less revenue for the state.
• Unsuccessful Experiments with an FTT. Some countries in Europe, such as Sweden and France, have unsuccessfully experimented with an FTT. In Europe, there are 28 countries that have some regulatory barriers for companies to move their operations from one country to another; moving state to state in the United States has no such barriers.
• Several Constitutional Limitations May Apply to the Tax. The proposed FTT may impose an unconstitutional burden by imposing a tax on the sale of federal securities.

The tax proposed by S.2902/A.4402 would significantly increase the costs of executing trades in New Jersey. In the immediate short-term, these costs would be passed on to many New Jersey residents, including middle-class pensioners. Longer-term, concerns about best execution requirements would force most securities firms to execute future trades on non-New Jersey exchanges.

You can read the letter to Honorable Stephen M. Sweeney here; you can read the letter to Honorable John F. McKeon here.
 
The signatories included:
ADISA
American Council of Life Insurers (ACLI)
American Securities Association (ASA)
Center for Capital Markets Competitiveness – U.S. Chamber of Commerce
Consumer Bankers Association (CBA)
Commerce and Industry Association of New Jersey (CIANJ)
Equity Markets Association
Financial Services Forum (FSF)
Financial Services Institute, Inc. (FSI)
Futures Industry Association (FIA)
Futures Industry Association – Principal Traders Group (FSI PTG)
Financial Planning Association (FPA)
Foreign Exchange Professionals Association (FXPA)
Investment Company Institute (ICI)
Institute of International Bankers (IIB)
Insured Retirement Institute (IRI)
International Swaps and Derivatives Association (ISDA)
Managed Funds Association
Modern Markets Initiative (MMI)
NAIFA New Jersey
New Jersey Business & Industry Association (NJBLA)
New Jersey Chamber of Commerce
Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (SIFMA)
Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association – Asset Management Group (SIFMA AMG)
The SPARK Institute, Inc.
TechNet