Barclays, HSBC, Deutsche Seen Among Banks Subject To US Tax

European banks Thursday were scrambling to figure out if they are among the foreign banks subject to a proposed U.S. tax that aims to recover taxpayer losses from the government's bailout of the U.S. economy.

President Barack Obama is to lay out the details of the plan later Thursday. Government officials said 10 to 15 U.S. subsidiaries of foreign banks would have to pay the proposed 0.15% tax on liabilities if it approved by Congress, though the exact criteria for which institutions it would be levied on was initially unclear.

Analysts said potential European candidates for the charge include the U.K.'s Barclays PLC (BCS), HSBC Holdings PLC (HBC) and Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC (RBS), which all have large U.S. operations, as well as Germany's Deutsche Bank and Commerzbank AG (CBK.XE) and Switzerland's Credit Suisse Group (CS) and UBS AG (UBS).

France's BNP Paribas SA (BNP.FR) and Spain's Banco Santander SA (STD) and Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argenteria SA (BBVA) were also seen as likely to be subject to the levy being termed a "financial crisis responsibility fee."

The banks all either declined to comment or couldn't immediately be reached for comment. Several privately said they are trying to work out whether it would apply to them, and that it was too soon to say what their reaction would be if it does.

According to an earlier Wall Street Journal report, the new tax would raise roughly $90 billion over 10 years from about 50 banks, insurance companies and large broker-dealers. The WSJ said it would apply to bank holding companies, thrifts, insurance companies that own financial arms and broker-dealers with at least $50 billion in assets that received assistance under TARP, the FDICs temporary loan program or other crisis efforts.

The proposed tax is the latest in a series of punishments for banks by governments for their role in the financial crisis. In the U.K., major banks must pay a 50% tax this year on many employees' bonuses and have agreed to rules limiting the scope and structure of bonus payments.

-By Margot Patrick, Dow Jones Newswires; +44 (0)20 7842 9451; margot.patrick@dowjones.com

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