UK: the bank levy and bank remuneration

In today's budget the Government announced the introduction of a bank levy. The levy will apply to: the consolidated balance sheet of UK banking groups and building societies; the aggregated subsidiary and branch balance sheets of foreign banks and banking groups operating in the UK; and the balance sheets of UK banks in non-banking groups. Further information is available here (pdf). The budget report is available here.

The budget report also states, in a short paragraph titled "Bank remuneration" at para. 2.79:

The Government will explore the costs and benefits of a Financial Activities Tax. The Government has asked the FSA to consider a number of factors in its forthcoming review of its Remuneration Code. Alongside this the Government will consult on a remuneration disclosure regime".