The Financial Conduct Authority says it will consider any evidence from the Cabinet Office and the Treasury on a possible Budget leak about the bank tax. It has not announced an investigation.
The Treasury Committee published the FCA's reply on 3 November. The letter is dated 2 November and comes from the FCA chief executive, Nikhil Rathi, to the committee chair, Dame Meg Hillier. Until now no FCA reply had been published.
Rathi writes that the regulator
"stands ready to consider the specifics of any evidence provided to us by Cabinet Office and HMT to decide what, if any, action it is appropriate for us to take"
He says the FCA will engage with the Treasury and Cabinet Office on whether any unlawful disclosure of inside information took place before the Budget. City AM reports that he said parliamentary scrutiny, such as select committees and leak inquiries, is usually the preferred route, and that the FCA may "choose to intervene" where poor information handling affects markets improperly.
The committee had flagged that Bloomberg's article, "Healey's Bank Tax Hike to Be Less Severe Than Lenders Feared", ran at 10.45am on 28 October and accurately reported the changes, according to Professional Adviser. City AM reports that Lloyds and NatWest shares rose by as much as 4% and Barclays by 3.7% before the levy was announced. Those were intraday peaks. At the close, the gains were between 1.6% and 2.0%.
The letter does not say whether the Treasury has given the committee a substantive reply.