City watchdog 'stands ready' to act over a Budget leak that sent bank shares surging before Healey's windfall tax

John Healey, Chancellor of the Exchequer, faces calls to explain how Bloomberg obtained accurate details of his windfall tax hours before he delivered it, with bank shares climbing as much as four per cent on the news.

Treasury Committee chair Dame Meg Hillier triggered the FCA probe, writing that Bloomberg's pre-Budget accuracy "appears to have been more than idle speculation.

Financial Conduct Authority chief executive Nikhil Rathi has written to the Treasury Committee confirming the regulator will engage with the Treasury and Cabinet Office to determine whether unlawful disclosure of inside information occurred ahead of the October 28 Budget. Lloyds and NatWest shares climbed as much as four per cent, and Barclays jumped 3.7 per cent, after Bloomberg published accurate details of the windfall tax hours before Chancellor John Healey delivered his statement.

Treasury Committee chair Dame Meg Hillier triggered the probe, writing that the Bloomberg report's accuracy 'appears to have been more than idle speculation'.

Rathi said parliament is usually the right forum for political leaks, but the FCA will step in if markets are 'improperly' affected by poor information handling.

The Budget leak row echoes last year's chaos around Rachel Reeves' fiscal statement, which was also hit by a wave of pre-announcement briefings.

City A.M.City watchdog ‘stands ready’ to act on bank windfall tax Budget leak LBCFinancial watchdog ‘stands ready’ to take action over potential Budget leak London South EastUK FCA "stands ready" to take action over potential budget leak

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