UK banks seeking tax review after HSBC threat

Britain’s largest banks are urging the UK Treasury to start a formal review of taxes on the industry, amid concern HSBC Holdings and Standard Chartered could move overseas to avoid a levy on balance sheets.

The request to Finance Minister David Gauke by the British Bankers’ Association, which represents HSBC and other domestic and foreign lenders such as Barclays and Deutsche Bank, was made in a letter dated June 3, obtained by Bloomberg News. A spokeswoman for the lobby group confirmed the details.

“The time is overdue for a strategic review of the government’s policy for taxing banks, to ensure that the tax regime for banking remains competitive”, British Bankers’ Association chief executive Anthony Browne wrote in the letter.