JPMorgan chief privately cautioned the chancellor as Prime Minister Andy Burnham's government prepares its October budget.
JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon has privately warned UK Chancellor of the Exchequer John Healey against raising taxes on banks, according to reporting by the Financial Times that was picked up by Bloomberg and other outlets. The warning came during a phone call last week, as Prime Minister Andy Burnham's government prepares its budget for October. Dimon told Healey that higher taxes on banks tend to destroy jobs and push financial activity toward lower-tax jurisdictions, citing the decline of finance jobs in New York as an example he attributed partly to that city's tax burden.
The call was first reported by the Financial Times, which relied on sources described as familiar with the conversation rather than an on-the-record account from either Dimon or Healey. Details of the exchange, including Dimon's central argument about job losses, have been characterized through background briefing rather than direct quotation. Neither Healey nor the UK Treasury has issued a detailed public response to the call as of the latest available reporting.
A Private Call Extends a Public Campaign
The conversation with Healey is not an isolated event. It builds directly on a monthslong campaign by Dimon against what he has characterized as a potential UK 'tax raid' on banks, aimed first at Burnham personally and now at his chancellor. Dimon fired an early warning shot in May 2026, when he said JPMorgan could scrap its planned London headquarters if bank taxes rose following any change in UK leadership.
That warning intensified in July, immediately after Burnham replaced Sir Keir Starmer as prime minister. Within hours of Burnham taking office, Dimon was already publicly cautioning the incoming government not to treat the City of London as an easy target for new revenue. On the Master Investor Podcast, recorded July 16 and released around July 20-21, Dimon argued that 'if you have an uncompetitive tax system, capital leaves your country,' and said that 'tax the banks' might sound appealing politically but carries 'adverse consequences.'
The £3bn Canary Wharf Headquarters at Stake
Central to Dimon's public warnings has been JPMorgan's planned £3bn headquarters in London's Canary Wharf. The bank has suggested repeatedly that continued or increased bank-specific taxation could jeopardize the project, with Dimon indicating the firm would 'reassess' its UK investment plans if tax obligations became excessive. The Financial Times and other outlets have reported that Dimon explicitly linked the fate of the tower to the tax decisions facing Burnham's government.
While the Healey phone call itself was reported as focusing narrowly on taxes and employment effects rather than explicit threats to the Canary Wharf project, it sits within this broader pattern of linking tax policy to investment decisions. Dimon has not, according to available reporting, said what specific action he would take if Healey raises the bank levy, but he has previously declined to rule out canceling the headquarters project entirely.
The Financial Case Dimon Has Made Publicly
Dimon has quantified his objections to UK bank taxation in concrete terms during public appearances. He has said his shareholders have paid approximately $5 billion in extra UK bank tax over time, a figure he has cited repeatedly to underscore what he considers the disproportionate burden already faced by JPMorgan and similar institutions. The UK's bank-specific levies include a bank surcharge on corporate profits and a bank levy introduced after the 2008 financial crisis, measures Dimon argues unfairly penalize banks that did not cause Britain's financial crisis.
This argument echoes a broader industry position. Other bank executives, including Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon in earlier reporting, and Citigroup's Jane Fraser more recently, have delivered similar warnings to UK officials about the competitive risks of higher bank taxation. Under the previous chancellor, Rachel Reeves, reports of a possible bank tax hike circulated but ultimately did not materialize, amid what was described at the time as intensive lobbying from the banking sector.
What the October Budget Could Decide
The timing of Dimon's call to Healey, coming as the Burnham government prepares its first budget for October, suggests the JPMorgan chief is seeking to shape the chancellor's thinking before any formal tax proposals are finalized. No concrete plan to raise bank taxes has yet been publicly announced, meaning Dimon's intervention functions as anticipatory lobbying rather than a response to a specific policy already on the table.
The chancellor now faces a decision on whether to maintain the current bank surcharge and levy, increase them as a revenue-raising measure, or adjust them in response to competitiveness concerns raised by Dimon and other bank leaders. How Healey and Burnham respond will likely determine whether JPMorgan proceeds with its Canary Wharf headquarters as planned, or reconsiders the scale of its London investment, as Dimon has repeatedly suggested could happen if the tax environment shifts against the sector.
