LONDON (Reuters) ? Britain?s financial services chiefs will press for less red tape and lower taxes at a meeting with finance minister Gordon Brown yesterday but warm words rather than policy promises are all they?re likely to get.

HSBC chief executive Michael Geoghegan and Morgan Stanley International chairman Jonathan Chevenix-Trench are among those lined up to take part in the inaugural meeting of Brown?s ?high level group? set up to address the City of London?s gripes.

Brown, widely tipped to take over from Prime Minister Tony Blair within a year, will seek to reassure financiers that he remains committed to keeping London?s competitiveness intact but will not make any commitments, a government source said.

Many firms, worried by the cost of doing business in Britain, have seen a revival in the fortunes of the opposition Conservative Party as an opportunity to press their case.

?We would like better consultation on the impact on companies before any new taxes are introduced,? said Michael Snyder, chairman of the City of London?s policy and resources committee who will attend the meeting.

?Other countries are increasingly competitive so we need to keep taxation under review.?

HSBC said last week it could cut its tax bill by ?400 million a year if it moved out of Britain. Insurers Hiscox and Omega Underwriting said last month they were moving to Bermuda to take advantage of an easier tax and regulatory regime.

An election is still some three years away but Brown is well aware of the importance of Britain?s financial services industry, which accounts for about ten percent of economic output and could soon overtake the shrinking manufacturing sector.

His closest ally Ed Balls ? who holds the title of Economic Secretary ? now calls himself minister for the City and has been making a string of announcements stressing the government?s ?light touch? approach to regulation.

For example, new legislation is being brought in to ensure the United States? onerous Sarbanes-Oxley reporting requirements are not imported by the back door.

Balls has also avoided criticising banks? record profits to make a political point, saying they were ?an essential part of keeping the sector sound and stable?.

Labour charmed many in the City when in opposition in the 1990s with a series of receptions dubbed the ?prawn cocktail offensive?.

Brown went on to win plaudits on taking office in 1997 for giving the Bank of England independence to set rates.

The City was also grateful for his efforts to protect the London eurobond market from the imposition of a European Union withholding tax.

But many have never forgiven him for abolishing Advance Corporation Tax rules in his first year in office, which some critics blame for the crisis in Britain?s pensions industry.

They also complain about increasingly complicated and burdensome regulation and high tax rates ? though these are still lower than many of its European neighbours.

Regulatory changes should be signalled and undergo a cost/benefit analysis with companies first, said one financial industry source.

Another called for stamp duty on share trades to be scrapped.

The Conservatives? Tax Review Commission will present an interim report tomorrow and is expected to call for a radical shake-up of business taxes ? including cutting corporate tax to 25 percent from the current 30 percent.