New York Stock Exchange threatens to exit New York

NEW YORK: Is the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) about to leave New York city?

The exchange’s president Stacey Cunningham warned on Tuesday that the unthinkable was possible, saying the hallowed financial institution on Wall Street could flee if the state imposes a tax on stock trades.

“While New York has remained a centre of gravity for the financial industry, many employees of ‘Wall Street’ firms are migrating to Florida, Texas and other states with hospitable tax policies,” she wrote in a column published in The Wall Street Journal.

Cunningham praised a 1981 decision by New York state to stop collecting a tax on stock trades, but warned, “If lawmakers opt to reinstate that tax, the NYSE may need to follow the lead of those relocating firms….