France: Can we see any effects of the 2018 tax reform?

On 1 January 2018, France implemented a tax reform (decided in autumn 2017) which consisted in introducing a 30% flat tax on capital income and eliminating the tax on financial wealth (only a tax on property wealth remains). At first sight, this reform was expected to: Increase dividend payments, since they are taxed less; Increase purchases of equities and corporate bonds by savers, directly or via institutional investors; As a result, increase corporate issuance of equities and bonds, and not only drive up share prices and drive down credit spreads. From the start of 2018, there were weak effects in the expected direction: increas ing dividend payments, increase in purchases and issuance of equities and corporate bonds, with no impact on prices.