Bank levy. The government will increase the rate of the bank levy to 0.156 per cent from 1 January 2014 and will make changes to the bank levy's detailed design that have the effect of widening the tax base. These changes include legislation to:

These changes will take effect from January 2015, unless stated otherwise. They follow the government's 2013 consultative review of the bank levy (see Legal update, Bank levy review 2013). A response to the consultation will be published together with draft legislation on 10 December 2013.

For more information on the bank levy, see Practice note, Bank levy.

Information on lending to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The government will consult on proposals to require banks to share information on their SME customers with other lenders through credit reference agencies (CRAs), with the intention of legislating in the next session of Parliament.

Payments to Equitable Life policyholders. The government confirms that the bulk of the payments to policyholders announced in its 2013 Budget will be made through direct payments into their bank accounts in December 2013.

Tax treatment of Solvency II compliant instruments. Section 221 of the Finance Act 2012 will be amended to ensure regulations can be made to set out the tax treatment of capital instruments that are compliant with the Solvency II Directive (2009/138/EC) (also known as Solvency 2). This will be done in advance of agreement to Solvency II since the tax treatment of these instruments is uncertain under current tax legislation. For an overview of the Solvency II regime, see Practice note, Solvency II: an overview.

Limited liability partnership reform. In its 2013 Budget, the government announced a review of partnerships, primarily to counter the use of limited liability partnerships to disguise employment relationships and the tax-motivated allocation of business profits to corporate partners, which are generally taxed at lower rates than individuals. During consultation, the government received new information showing that the impact on alternative investment fund managers who operate as partnerships will be greater than anticipated. The government confirms that it will take forward its proposals and that they will now bring in additional revenue over the forecast period. For general information on limited partnerships, see Practice note, Limited partnerships: tax.

Exchange traded funds (ETFs). From April 2014, the government will remove the stamp duty and stamp duty reserve tax (SDRT) charge on purchases of shares in ETFs that would currently apply if an ETF were domiciled in the UK. For more information on ETFs, see Practice note, Hot topics: Exchange traded funds (ETFs).

Loan origination. The government will publish an initial consultation to explore how a regime to allow loan origination by investment funds might be introduced in the UK.

Controlled foreign companies (CFCs): profit shifting. The government will, with immediate effect from 5 December 2013, make changes to the CFCs rules to address the transfer offshore of profits from existing UK intra-group lending, and also make a simple legislative fix to ensure the rules work as intended.