It’s not a tax on pay, it’s a “Tobin tax” on financial transactions.

It would also have to be internationally agreed, which makes any prospect of its introduction in the short term quite unlikely.

Seriously: nobody cares what the chairman of the FSA thinks.

The FSA is the most useless, toothless, spineless sack-of-shite ever to appear in a neoliberal’s wet dream. It is almost unique in that it has absolutely no merit whatsoever; not one saving grace, or purpose.

Rob is quite right, it is not a “banker’s tax” on pay in the sense of taxing banker’s pay. He wants to tax revenues on the basis that doing so would reduce the gross profit, which is divided up between bonuses for bankers and returns to shareholders. He is “going after the revenues” in the sense I belabored recently.

Probably worth having a read of the Prospect article guys! Regardless of opinion on the FSA (I know there are plenty) it’s makes for an interesting read…
http://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/2009/08/how-to-tame-global-finance/