Bankers and headhunters in the City of London this morning argued that any move by European regulators to cap bonuses at base salaries would only lead to higher fixed pay and do little to curb risk taking in the industry, while the Association of British Insurers also expressed concern.

The European Banking Authority yesterday published its survey on the implementation of the guidelines on remuneration policies and practices, setting out the extent to which national regulators had enforced European guidelines on pay.