Top banks sign up to tax code

The 15 biggest banks operating in the UK have adopted a Government code of practice on reducing tax avoidance, the Deputy Prime Minister, Nick Clegg, said yesterday.

The code, which until October had only received support from four of the 15, requires the banks to "follow the spirit of the law in addition to the letter" on tax and to work with the Government "to encourage mutually open and transparent relationships".

The former chancellor, Alistair Darling, initiated the code in June last year. The Coalition has warned that banks refusing to sign up will face more intrusive inspections from tax authorities, The Chancellor, George Osborne, told the banks in October that they had until yesterday to sign up to the code of practice. bloomberg