Rachel Reeves has been told by top global financial firms she needs to ease investment taxes, sources told Reuters.
In a meeting with executives from JPMorgan, BlackRock, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Citi, Fidelity, Schroders and abrdn on Wednesday, Reeves was told to improve tax incentives for UK consumers.
The latest summit in Reeves’ bid for growth followed a fresh blow this morning after it was revealed inflation had jumped to three per cent, reducing chances of a spate of interest rate cuts.
The talks included requests from the investment industry to change the tax treatment of cash savings accounts (ISAs) to encourage investment in stocks and bonds instead.
Reeves was warned about steps taken in the budget that impacted Britain’s competitiveness, notably the changes to the non-dom loophole.
Stamp duty on equity investments also dominated the talks, with Reeves pressed to cut rates, two sources told Reuters.
She also referenced Britain’s move to a T+1 share settlement scheduled for October 2027, which will cut the time it takes to settle securities trade to one day from two.
Reeves’ investment strategy to come this Spring
The Chancellor’s meetings with various financial services leaders are intended to feed ideas into the forthcoming Financial Services Growth and Competitiveness Strategy, which is to be published this Spring.
The Government launched its Invest 2035 strategy in October 2024 which proposed a 10-year industrial strategy aiming to provide businesses with the certainty and stability needed to invest in high-growth sectors.
The strategy will reveal the Chancellor’s sector plan for growth and potentially reflect advice suggested during talks.
This set of talks followed Reeves meeting last week with executives from Britain’s biggest high-street banks including Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds Banking Group, Natwest and Nationwide, as reported by Sky News.
The investment banking bosses reportedly broadly welcomed the government’s approach to deregulation, an initiative that the Chancellor has spearheaded.
The Treasury has yet to respond with comment.
