Cable warns City: I’ll tie bonuses to banks’ lending

Business secretary Vince Cable will propose linking bonuses for top bankers to the amount of lending their banks have undertaken when he launches a Green Paper today in the Commons.

Cable, whose “sustainable finance” proposals could arouse the ire of the City, is said to be particularly concerned by recent figures showing that lending to banks fell by six per cent in the last year.

If banks don’t start lending to businesses to stimulate the UK economy’s recovery from recession, he warns, bonus payouts could be curtailed and banks could have their power to pay dividends restricted.

Other proposals contained in the Green Paper include the reintroduction of regional stockmarkets. In 1914 there were more than 20 regional stock markets in the UK – since 1973 there has been just one.

Read a full report at the Daily Telegraph. ·