Global Capital Markets

If Russia wants Moscow to become a financial centre of the world, exchange transactions should be made tax-free, said Oleg Vyugin, head of the Federal Financial Markets Service. Both strategic investors and speculators work on the exchanges, but it is speculators who ensure turnover and who will not survive if a tax is levied on each transaction. Concurrently, strategic investors who do not sell or buy every day will interpret tax-free transactions as an invitation to cooperation.Mr Vyugin said investors are working in offshore zones where they do not have to pay taxes: “A tax on capital increment will not produce the desired effect,” he said. “If we cancel this tax, we may urge players to leave offshore zones.”