Nov. 9 (Bloomberg) -- U.K. Prime Minister Gordon Brown repeated his call for Group of 20 nations to consider a tax on financial transactions even in the face of opposition from U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner.

Measures tightening supervisory oversight “may not be sufficient to protect against future risk and to compensate for wider costs to the general public,” Brown wrote in the Financial Times today. In addition to the levy, he pointed to “insurance fees to reflect systemic risk,” resolution funds and “contingent capital arrangements” as possible approaches.

Brown floated those ideas on Nov. 7 when he addressed finance ministers and central bankers from the G-20 nations in St. Andrews, Scotland. Geithner said a so-called Tobin tax is “not something we’re prepared to support” and European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet said he’s “not convinced” by the idea.

At the same time, Brown has some backing. French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde said over the weekend that a trading tax “seems reasonable” and U.K. Financial Services Authority Chairman Adair Turner, a leading advocate of a Tobin tax, told the FT “it’s good that things have been put on the table.”

Austrian Finance Minister Josef Proell said today that his country backs a transaction tax “on a European level.” Speaking to reporters in Brussels before a meeting of euro-area finance ministers, Proell said “we are optimistic that we can move ahead with this in coming months.”

Taxpayers’ Money

After spending more than $500 billion in taxpayers’ money to save banks, G-20 officials debated how the financial industry can be forced to pay for future rescues.

The G-20, which gathered at the end of a week in which Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc became the most expensive bailout ever, plans to discuss how banks can “contribute to paying for burdens” arising from state rescues at its next summit.

Brown’s FT article called for a new “contract” between banks and “the society they serve.”

“At its heart, the contract must answer another issue raised by the crisis: that the distribution of risks and rewards between the banks, citizens and taxpayers is balanced fairly,” he said. The debate on this contract “will not always be a comfortable discussion, but it is in my view an essential one.”

Voters’ Anger

The push comes amid voters’ anger that banks rescued by taxpayers are returning to profit even as unemployment rises around the world. The U.S. jobless rate rose to a 26-year high in October just as the Centre for Economics & Business Research Ltd. forecasts bankers’ bonuses will rise 50 percent this year.

Brown’s comments come as he trails the Conservatives in the polls less than seven months before the expected next election. While the opposition says the biggest risk to the economy is the record budget deficit, Brown has stepped up his attacks on banks.

To contact the reporter on this story: John Fraher in Edinburgh at jfraher@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: November 9, 2009 12:14 EST