JPMorgan Chase chief executive Jamie Dimon has warned that Britain risks losing one of Europe’s largest office investments if Labour turns hostile towards the banking industry.
The Wall Street titan said the US lender could reconsider plans for its vast new £3bn London headquarters should ministers pursue what he described as an anti-bank agenda amid growing political instability surrounding Keir Starmer’s leadership.
Speaking to Bloomberg TV on Tuesday, Dimon insisted political turbulence alone would not derail the company’s commitment to Britain.
However, he issued a blunt warning over any future crackdown on the financial sector.
“Not political instability,” he said, when asked what could threaten the investment. “But if they become hostile to banks again, yes.”
The intervention comes as tensions deepen within Labour over the future direction of economic policy following disastrous local election results and mounting speculation over Starmer’s long-term position.
Senior figures frequently mentioned in Westminster leadership discussions include Andy Burnham and Angela Rayner, both associated with a more interventionist economic approach.
Rayner has previously floated increasing the banking surcharge from three per cent to five per cent as part of wider tax-raising measures, according to leaked proposals seen earlier this year.
A separate group of around 100 Labour MPs, reportedly led by former transport secretary Louise Haigh, has also pushed the Government towards a more aggressively Left-wing economic strategy.
Dimon suggested Britain’s banking sector had already been unfairly penalised since the financial crisis.
“I’ve always objected to the fact we didn’t damage the UK in any way,” he said. “We paid probably $10bn in extra taxes by now. I don’t think that’s right or fair.”
“If that happens too much, we will reconsider.”
The warning rattled investors already nervous about the prospect of higher taxes and political uncertainty.
Shares in Lloyds Banking Group, Barclays and NatWest Group fell on Tuesday amid fears the sector could once again become a target for revenue-raising measures.
Analysts at Jefferies said last week that an increase in the banking surcharge was now “more likely than not”.
JPMorgan first unveiled plans for its giant new Canary Wharf headquarters last November, just one day after Chancellor Rachel Reeves delivered a Budget that largely spared major lenders from additional taxation.
The proposed skyscraper, which received planning approval in April, would span around three million square feet and house up to 12,000 employees.
Once completed, it would become London’s third-tallest building behind The Shard and 22 Bishopsgate.
JPMorgan estimates the six-year construction project would contribute roughly £10bn to the British economy and create around 7,800 jobs.
Despite the scale of the investment, the bank has consistently stressed that the project depends on Britain maintaining a competitive and stable business environment.
The Treasury has previously discussed offering the company substantial business rates relief to secure the development.
Banking leaders argue that Britain already imposes significantly heavier tax burdens on lenders than rival financial centres do.
According to UK Finance, banks operating in Britain faced an effective tax rate of 46.4pc last year, compared with 27.9pc in New York and 38.9pc in Frankfurt.
- S. Venkatakrishnan, the chief executive of Barclays, warned last month that British banks were already taxed more heavily than competitors in other major jurisdictions.
Many of the levies currently imposed on the sector were introduced in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis, including the balance sheet levy brought in under the Coalition Government and the corporation tax surcharge introduced in 2015.
Dimon’s intervention is likely to intensify concerns within Labour that growing speculation about leadership turmoil and future tax rises risks undermining investor confidence at a particularly fragile moment for the British economy.
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