LONDON, Feb 7 (Reuters) - The chairman of an influentialcommittee of British lawmakers has asked finance minister GeorgeOsborne to make clear that banks should not be able to offsetregulatory fines against their corporation tax bills.
In a letter sent to the Treasury, Conservative lawmakerAndrew Tyrie said it was important lenders were paying the fullcost of misconduct penalties.
"It would be wholly unacceptable if taxpayers, having bailedout the banks in 2008, were to find themselves partlyresponsible for paying the banks' fines," Tyrie said in theletter, published on Sunday.
British banks have been fined billions of pounds by global regulators since the 2007-09 financial crisis for a slew ofmis-selling scandals, alleged market manipulation and regulatorybreaches.
Tyrie, who chairs Britain's Treasury Select Committee, alsorequested clarification from Osborne that settlements reachedwith foreign regulators should also prohibit UK taxdeductability.
He said, however, that costs for banks related toindependent reviews ordered by Britain's Financial ConductAuthority to determine whether or not misconduct took placeshould be tax deductable, so long as no wrongdoing was found.
(Reporting by Richa Naidu; Editing by Mark Potter)
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