French banks say IMF twin taxes won't help system

PARIS, April 22 (Reuters) - The International Monetary Fund's two proposed new taxes on banks would neither help guarantee the stability of the financial system nor prevent future crises, the French Banking Federation said on Thursday.

The association, which represents major French banks such as BNP Paribas (BNPP.PA) and Societe Generale (SOGN.PA), said the taxes would hurt the capacity of banks to lend and would not be as effective as stricter requirements on capital.

The French Banking Federation is in favour of stricter capital requirements on banks' financial market activities but is opposed to more far-reaching capital guidelines as proposed by the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision. [ID:nLDE63I1GT]

It is also opposed to the idea of any new tax on banks that is not evenly applied across all countries.

The IMF proposals formed part of an interim report, with a final version to be presented to G20 leaders in June. They propose a tax on the liabilities of financial firms to cover the cost of any future bailouts and an extra tax on profits and pay. [ID:nLDE63K11R] (Reporting by Lionel Laurent, editing by Will Waterman)