Bank bosses who allow their firms to devise schemes to help customers avoid paying tax could face sanctions from the Financial Services Authority.

The City regulator is considering its position on the government’s new code of conduct on tax after Nigel Harper, banking adviser at HM Revenue & Customs, took the unusual decision of raising the matter at regulator’s annual public.

The code, which is out for consultation, is intended to be voluntary and is designed to save the taxpayer billions of pounds lost through complex but legal avoidance schemes operated by some banks. Jill Treanor, The Guardian.

Voluntary! No hope then.