A group of 10 European Union countries is approaching an agreement on a financial transaction tax, Germany's finance minister, Olaf Scholz, has said in a letter to fellow ministers. German Finance Minister Olaf Scholz said a group of European Union countries is close to agreeing on a financial transaction tax. (AP) In the short letter sent Monday, the German minister also said the countries had defined the core of the joint financial transaction tax, though he added that they could expand on the agreed-upon text if they chose. The tax, designed to get financial institutions to pay more in the wake of the financial crisis, was introduced at the EU level following bank rescues that occurred in many countries after the crisis.