Darling to hold secret talks with bankers in Davos

LONDON GUARDIAN

Alistair Darling is to hold private talks with an elite group of City bankers in Davos on Friday amid warnings from global business executives that tough new curbs on the financial sector would hold back economic recovery.

Leaders of both UK and international banks will seek reassurance from the chancellor that the windfall tax on bank bonuses is not the start of a concerted crackdown that will make London a less attractive place to do business.

Bob Diamond, the president of Barclays, today strongly attacked Barack Obama's plans to limit the size and scope of Wall Street banks. A new era of "­narrow" banks would be harmful, ­Diamond warned: "The impact on jobs, global trade and the global economy would be very negative."

Peter Sands, the chief executive of Standard Chartered, will host talks at which bankers will voice their unhappiness at what they see as a populist attack on their industry. He said that there was a growing risk that fragmented regulation initiatives would "create enormous complexity" and encourage banks to play one regulator off against another.

Darling is expected to tell the bankers that while the government wants the G20 group of developed and developing nations to draw up plans for better financial regulation, it also wants the City to thrive.

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