The chairman of Lazard International has warned measures so far implemented in the wake of the financial crisis will prove “meaningless” unless trust is rebuilt between banks, governments and the public, and is urging institutions to play their part by weighing the social as well as business and financial implications of risk.

Ken Costa, speaking tonight in his inaugural lecture as Mercer's School Memorial Professor of Economy at the UK's Gresham College, will urge leaders of the G20 countries, who begin a two-day summit in the US today, to take "concrete steps to promote trust in the financial services industry".