Jamie Dimon, the chief executive of JPMorgan Chase, has privately warned the UK government against raising the surcharge on banks, according to the Financial Times.

Citing people familiar with the matter, the paper reported that Dimon called the chancellor John Healey on Thursday and warned that raising any of the surcharges that banks pay could drive jobs out of the UK.

The FT added that sources said the conversation was overall “cordial” and did not revolve solely around the issue of banking taxes.

The government is looking to fill funding gaps in critical areas such as defence and social care in this autumn’s budget and the City is closely monitoring both Healey and the prime minister Andy Burnham for signs on whether banks could be in line for tax hikes.

On Saturday, The Telegraph reported that Healey has ramped up security measures around the budget to prevent leaks from revealing headline measures ahead of his 28 October speech.

But key figures in banking are urging the government to keep the surcharge at its current level as the Treasury draws up budget options. In May, Dimon suggested that a “hostile” approach to banks by the UK government could prompt his firm to reconsider its £3 billion Canary Wharf HQ investment and in July warned of “consequences” if Burnham raised the banking surcharge.

Healey’s predecessor Rachel Reeves was subject to repeated lobbying against bank tax increases by figures such as the Barclays chief executive C.S. 'Venkat' Venkatakrishnan. In both of her budgets, Reeves avoided raising any further levies on banks.

The Trades Union Congress has called for the government to raise three per cent surcharge banks pay on profits above £100 million to a minimum of eight per cent, in line with 2023 levels. It has further suggested that a windfall tax of 35 per cent, in line with the Energy Profits Levy imposed on energy firms in 2022, would raise £60 billion by 2030.

At the start of August, the not-for-profit organisation Positive Money published a report which suggested Healey could raise £18.9 billion in 2026 by imposing a 38 per cent levy on the profits of UK banks above £800 million.

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