Jamie Dimon told Bloomberg TV that tax policy should be grounded in principle and applied evenly. "I'm not in favor of things that lack principle," he said, adding, "It's easy to say charge my friends over here, I think that's wrong." In an exclusive conversation with Tom Mackenzie at JPMorgan's Tech Stars Conference in London, he said a windfall charge that applies only to UK-based lenders would be unfair, would lift funding costs, and would carry consequences. He also reiterated his view that the UK already imposes "the highest tax rate for banks probably in the world," and cautioned that imposing a windfall levy could slow the UK's economic growth.
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In London, parts of the City worry the government might deploy this month's budget to slap a windfall levy on the profits of homegrown banks, leaving out the UK arms of overseas lenders.
If homegrown banks are singled out while foreign competitors skate, their cost of capital can rise and, Dimon warned, that could weigh on the UK's growth outlook.
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