Govt may force top bankers to reveal bonuses

The Treasury wants to force the highest paid staff at 15 of the UK's largest banks to publicly disclose their pay.

In a consultation on pay transparency in banking launched today, the Treasury suggested the eight highest-paid non-board executives at each large bank should disclose their remuneration deals.

The rules would cover 15 banks including the UK's largest and the UK operations of large foreign banks.

Today's proposal is part of Project Merlin, the government's accord with the banking sector.

In February 2011, when launching Project Merlin, the government pledged to extend the disclosure of remuneration amongst top bankers.

Earlier this year, four major UK banks agreed to publish the pay of its five highest-earning non-board executives.

Mark Hoban, financial secretary to the Treasury, said: "The banking system cannot reward employees for short-term performance while leaving investors exposed to long-term risk.

"We want shareholders to hold banks to account for their bonus structure, which is why we are taking action to make top-level pay more transparent.

"We want the most transparency for those with the greatest responsibility."

Yesterday the Bank of England announced it may change the way it measures bankers' bonuses making it more difficult for bankers to justify multi-million pound rewards.