Former City minister Bim Afolami has defended the decision to scrap the cap on banker bonuses, as Square Mile grandees continue to push the government to go further and faster on promoting growth in finance.

Afolami, who previously worked as a banker at HSBC and lawyer at Freshfields before moving into politics, told the City of London Corporation’s Chief Risk Officers Summit on 21 May that the government must create a “genuinely pro-growth, risk-on” regulatory environment for the UK.