Worries about the long term economic fallout of the ongoing Middle East crisis, particularly to UK households, prompted Chancellor of the Exchequer (finance minister) Rachel Reeves to summon the heads of Barclays UK, Lloyds Banking Group, Santander UK, NatWest Group, Nationwide Building Society and HSBC UK to an emergency meeting on Wednesday, 22 April.

This comes off the back of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), earlier this month, handing the UK economy the biggest downgrade forecast of any country in the G7. 

Reeves previously met with the UK's six largest retail banks and building societies on 26 March to "assess ‌the impact of the Middle East conflict on households and small businesses".

This week's summit, which took place during UK Fintech Week 2026, was also attended by Economic Secretary Lucy Rigby. According to a government press release, Reeves "set out how her economic plan is strengthening the UK’s resilience and keeping costs down for households and businesses - and that the financial services sector has a central role to play in managing risk, backing consumer confidence and supporting households." 

The Chancellor and the Economic Secretary also "highlighted progress on delivering the Financial Services Growth and Competitiveness Strategy, including the launch of Targeted Support to boost retail investment, commissioning the Financial Services Skills Commission to produce a report on disruptive technologies and skills needs and launch a financial services Skills Compact, and major pensions reform through the Pensions Bill." 

Assurances were given that government and regulators continue to work together to reduce regulatory burdens. 

Will any of this really help overburdened UK households and businesses? Only time will tell.

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