The New York Stock Exchange may leave New York State if Albany imposes a transfer tax on stock sales, the chairman of the Intercontinental Exchange-owned exchange operator said Tuesday in an article in the Wall Street Journal .
NYSE President Stacey Cunningham said she and 25 other New York securities industry representatives sent a letter last Wednesday to state legislative leaders warning of the unintended consequences of imposing such a tax, which would be borne by investors.
“The New York Stock Exchange belongs to New York. If Albany’s lawmakers get what they want, however, the center of the global financial industry may need to find a new home, ”she said.
A NYSE representative declined to comment further.
New York State is facing huge budget deficits due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which has prompted some state lawmakers to introduce a bill that would tax certain financial transactions.
The idea of a new transaction tax appears to have little support in the governor’s office.
When the matter came up at a news conference in January, budget director Robert Mujica said that many ideas about these taxes “have not been realized,” according to a copy of the comments provided to Reuters by a New York state official. Budget Division.
Mujica pointed to a proposed financial tax last year in New Jersey, where many exchanges host their servers, and noted that the exchanges quickly mobilized to temporarily move their employees and activities out of the state.
The pandemic has shown that people can do business anywhere, he said. “So, if we raise the tax like that, you mobilize people, potentially just transfer your transactions and your servers to another part of the country where those taxes don’t exist.”