Dimon Warns UK Chancellor: Higher Bank Taxes Will Drive Jobs Away

JPMorgan Chase & Co. CEO Jamie Dimon issued a blunt warning against raising taxes on banks during a phone call last week with UK Chancellor of the Exchequer John Healey, as the government prepares its budget slated for October. The Financial Times reported this, citing unnamed sources familiar with the details of the conversation.

According to Dimon, high taxes often push jobs out of a country — he pointed to the decline in financial-sector jobs in New York City as an example, attributing part of it to the city's tax burden. He made the same point recently in an interview with Wilfred Frost on the "Master Investor" podcast: "If your tax system isn't competitive, capital will leave your country."

The government of Prime Minister Andy Burnham, however, has left the door open to raising taxes on banks, amid high profitability in the financial sector and growing calls — including from trade unions — to increase taxes on lending institutions.