Lloyds boss warns against bank windfall tax as Labour election win looms
However, Mr Nunn’s feedback counsel the trade desires her and Chancellor Jeremy Hunt to go additional and explicitly rule out a windfall tax on earnings.
The disastrous introduction of a bank tax in Italy in August has underscored investor fears over tax coverage on banks.
A recent levy launched by Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni in August prompted a sell-off in native bank share costs, forcing the federal government to backtrack and water down the plan.
UK banks are already topic to a number of kinds of taxes, such as the bank levy on their steadiness sheet and bank surcharge on earnings.
Last 12 months the Government lower the bank surcharge to 3pc from 8pc, saying it was essential to make UK banking internationally aggressive. However, rising rates of interest have bolstered earnings at some banks and prompted requires greater taxes.
Positive Money, a marketing campaign group, stated a levy on HSBC, Barclays, Lloyds and NatWest may elevate wherever from £5bn to £20bn. Interest charges largely boosted earnings at banks final 12 months. In 2023, excessive ranges of buyer switching have pressured banks to supply extra aggressive financial savings charges, which has eaten into earnings.
Mr Nunn’s feedback got here as it emerged that Barclays is mulling plans to axe hundreds of purchasers from its funding bank as it targets £1bn in price cuts.
As a part of an anticipated restructuring subsequent 12 months, the bank has mentioned plans to finish relationships with purchasers that don’t generate sufficient earnings for the lender.
Clients that face being lower off embrace governments, hedge funds, fund managers and sovereign wealth funds.
Barclays funding bank has round 10,000 company clients, with the Financial Times reporting that as much as 2,500 could possibly be dropped.
The transfer is certainly one of a number of choices into consideration by chief govt CS Venkatakrishnan, identified as Venkat, as he pursues a restructuring plan codenamed Project Minerva.
The bank is beneath intense stress to revive its fortunes after a share value slide left it lagging behind rivals.