Foreign Investors on Financial Markets

Since the beginning of the eighties, the financial markets of Paris have experienced a continuous movement of reforms, the aim of which was to set Paris at the same level as that of its foreign counterparts, mainly the financial markets of New York, London or Tokyo. Paris' work indeed was to allow investors to have access to the same ranges of services and financing sources as those offered in foreign countries, and thus to initiate the creation of new markets (unlisted securities market in 1983, financial futures market in 1986, traded options market in 1987), and initiate the diversification of the financial products and the introduction of the computerized continuous market. Meanwhile, foreign investors in French derivative securities and products have benefited from a more and more favorable taxation which implies, depending on the case, an exemption from withholding tax, a progressive decrease of the applicable rates or the granting of advantages in principle reserved for