Treasury Committee investigates possible leak of bank surcharge changes before Budget
Treasury Committee chair Dame Meg Hillier has raised concerns that details of the bank surcharge announced in yesterday’s Budget may have been “improperly released” ahead of the statement.
In letters to HM Treasury’s permanent secretary and the Financial Conduct Authority’s chief executive, Hillier highlighted that a Bloomberg article published almost two hours before Healey’s Budget speech reported that the bank surcharge would be set below the widely anticipated 8% rate and that any increase would be temporary.
Writing to Nikhil Rathi and James Bowler CB, Hillier said: “This appears to have been more than idle speculation, and it had implications for relevant securities.”
Healey raised the surcharge to 6%, rather than 8%, for 15 months from January 2027.
Hillier noted that the Bloomberg story quoted “people familiar with the matter”.
In both letters, she said: “I would also welcome co-operation between HM Treasury and the Financial Conduct Authority in considering how this event occurred, what steps need to be taken to find out who was responsible and whether action is required to prevent any future reoccurrence.”
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In her letter to Bowler, she said: “I would also welcome confirmation that banks (or any representatives of them or their trade bodies) were not told of the changes in outline or with specifics before the publication of the Budget and the Chancellor’s statement to the House.
The scrutiny follows wider discussion about the potential impact of the surcharge increase on mortgage and savings rates.
