Key facts
- A Bloomberg story published at 10:45 a.m. on April 13, 2026, noted a lower-than-feared and temporary bank corporation tax surcharge.
- Bank share prices moved shortly before Chancellor John Healey's budget statement at 12:30 p.m. on April 13, 2026.
- The bank corporation tax surcharge will temporarily increase from 3% to 6% for 15 months starting January 1, 2027.
- Meg Hillier, chair of the Treasury select committee, has requested investigations into the leak by the Treasury and the FCA.
UK Chancellor John Healey is facing scrutiny over a potential leak of budget information that may have influenced bank share prices. The chair of the Treasury select committee, Meg Hillier, has written to the Treasury and the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to investigate whether a story published by Bloomberg an hour before the budget statement constituted an improper release of inside information.
The Bloomberg story, published at 10:45 a.m. on April 13, 2026, indicated that the bank corporation tax surcharge would be temporarily increased to 6% from 3%, rather than the feared 8%, and that this increase would be short-lived. Shortly after this report, bank share prices moved.
Healey confirmed the details in the Commons, stating the surcharge would rise to 6% for 15 months from January 1, 2027, to fund household support measures. Hillier has urged the Treasury to confirm that banks were not informed of the changes in advance and to clarify how many individuals had access to the sensitive information.