The UK Chancellor of the Exchequer today paid heed to a campaign by the London Stock Exchange against charging stamp duty on shares in small companies as he abolished the levy in one of several moves announced in today’s Budget aimed at boosting growth and helping the SME sector.

Stamp duty on shares of companies listed on growth markets including the Alternative Investment Market and the ISDX Growth Market will be scrapped from April next year, George Osborne told parliament this afternoon in his annual Budget speech.