Health care, tax reform critical for the markets: Nasdaq exec

Ahead of the Senate Republicans’ release of their revised health care bill, President Trump met with technology leaders at the White House on Thursday.

The administration has made it a priority to pass health care reform and overhaul tax legislation before the end of year. In the president’s meeting with technology executives, he consulted them on various issues, including the corporate tax rate and how health care reform may impact businesses.

Nasdaq EVP of Global Listing Services, Nelson Griggs, says that health care and tax cuts are “very important” to the market.

“The market is very focused on tax reform. If you talk to most CEOs throughout the country, the CEOs in the room today, they are very focused on tax and regulations. Movement on the health care reform will also lead to potentially tax reform, it makes it very important to the markets,” Griggs said during an interview on FOX Business Network on Thursday.

Senate Republicans released a revised health care bill on Thursday, but Griggs is wary of health care reform, saying he thinks “it will ultimately result in more costs for the corporations.”

“I think more taxes coming to individuals through health care would likely be passed on to the corporations. And that might not necessarily be a good thing for corporate growth,” he said.

Griggs noted that getting the ball rolling on health care reform will clear the path for tax reform more quickly, which he says will benefit corporations. Trump has proposed cutting the corporate tax rate to 15% from the current 35% rate, the lowest corporate rate since 1937.

“I think people recognize [tax reform] is a very complex topic. The main theme today was a simplification of the tax code and lowering taxes. So any path that we get there if it’s not as comprehensive, obviously the markets would have to digest that and what that means to longer form tax reform,” Griggs said.