Commencement of section 109 of the Finance Act 2007

Stamp Duty on transfers of Irish securities - New reliefs for certain market participants

The Minister for Finance has signed an order that will commence the provisions of section 109 of the Finance Act 2007 with effect from 1 October 2007. Section 109 amends existing provisions of the Stamp Duties Consolidation Act 1999 and inserts two new sections, section 75 and section 75A into that Act. As a consequence of that, as on and from 1 October 2007 –

• stamp duty exemption for market makers on the Irish Stock Exchange and the London Stock Exchange is abolished;
• stamp duty relief for member firms (broker/dealer relief) of those exchanges is abolished;
• entitlement to repayment of stamp duty (“closings relief”) under section 73(1)(b) of the Stamp Duties Consolidation Act 1999 is, subject to transitional arrangements^* abolished;
• a new stamp duty relief is available for “recognised intermediaries” where they acquire Irish securities on -
  • any exchange or market operated by the Irish Stock Exchange Limited,
  • any exchange or market operated by the London Stock Exchange plc,
  • Plus Markets plc and markets operated by it, and
  • POSIT operated by Investment Technology Group Limited^**; and
• a specific stamp duty exemption is available on certain transfers of Irish securities in a settlement chain involving a Central Counterparty.