JP Morgan Boss Urges Chancellor Against Bank Tax Hike
Jamie Dimon warns John Healey on investment impact as UK prepares autumn Budget amidst calls for increased levies.
Carla Rooney
JP Morgan boss Jamie Dimon urged UK chancellor John Healey not to increase taxes on banks.
John Healey is scheduled to meet with other bank executives as the October Budget approaches.
Experts from the National Institute of Economic and Social Research (Niesr) state the Chancellor must either raise taxes or cut spending due to public finance pressures.
The Trades Union Congress (TUC) demands an increase in the windfall levy on bank profits, from 3% to at least 8%; the TUC also calls for an increased bank surcharge to help with the cost of living.
Higher interest rates reportedly inflated bank profits in recent years.
Positive Money claims £29.2bn in profits means banks could easily absorb a tax designed to raise £19bn.
Speculation suggests a windfall tax could be imposed on UK lenders to fund Andy Burnham's cost of living agenda; campaigners claim this move could raise £19bn.
Jamie Dimon previously lobbied against Rachel Reeves' bank levy plans last year.
He asserted that JP Morgan did not damage the UK economy, stating, "JP Morgan did not damage the UK… I just thought it lacked principle to punish a company that had nothing to do with the crisis, and is still there 16-17 years later."
JP Morgan plans a 3m sq ft tower in London's Canary Wharf district.
Dimon claims this £3bn project could be scrapped if Keir Starmer were replaced by a new Labour prime minister hostile to banks.
Dimon warned that any windfall levy would be unwelcome, pointing to a decline in finance roles in New York that he blamed in part on the city's tax burden.
He stated, "I wouldn't want to see that if I was running a country."
I wouldn't want to see that if I was running a country.
A person familiar with the exchange claims these comments were not specific to the UK.
Dimon added, "If the Government decides to do it then there’s nothing I can do, but it will over time cause decisions to be made that they may not like."
Dimon stressed that 'through good policy' was the only way to solve the UK's economic challenges; he stated, "If you have an uncompetitive tax system, capital leaves your country and… goes to other countries."