U.K.’s 15 Largest Banks Sign Tax Accord, Clegg Says
The 15 biggest banks operating in the U.K. have adopted a government code of practice on reducing tax avoidance, Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg said.
The code, which until October had only been supported by four of the 15, requires the banks to “follow the spirit of the law in addition to the letter” on tax and to work with the government “to encourage mutually open and transparent relationships.”
“All the top 15 banks have now signed the code,” Clegg told lawmakers in Parliament today.
Former Chancellor Alistair Darling initiated the code in June last year. Banks refusing to sign up would face more intrusive inspections from tax authorities, the government has said. Darling’s Conservative successor, George Osborne, said last month he wanted to put an end to “immoral” tax avoidance.
The 15 banks are Bank of America Corp., Barclays Plc, Citigroup Inc., Credit Suisse Group AG, Deutsche Bank AG, Goldman Sachs Group Inc., HSBC Holdings Plc, JPMorgan Chase & Co., Lloyds Banking Group Plc, Morgan Stanley, Nationwide Building Society, Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc, Banco Santander SA, Standard Chartered Plc and UBS AG.
Richard Murphy, accountant and director of Tax Research LLP, said in September that British banks will avoid paying 19 billion pounds ($30 billion) of tax on future profits by offsetting their losses during the financial crisis against their tax bills. That’s equivalent to more than 1,100 pounds for every family in the U.K., according to the report, which was published by the Trades Union Congress, the umbrella labor organization.
To contact the reporter on this story: Robert Hutton in London at rhutton1@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Eddie Buckle at ebuckle@bloomberg.net
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