Lord Mayor urges end to "banker bashing"

Nick Anstee warned that there was a groundswell of public anger towards the City and this had to be addressed to restore trust.

In a speech to the Guild of International Bankers, he said: "We fool ourselves if we do not recognise that trust has fundamentally broken down between the British public and the City and my first concern is to help restore that trust, to help re-establish a workable social contract between citizens and the financial services City.

"Things have changed and we have to be better at explaining what we do. And explaining why it matters - not just for money-making, but for society and its future."

But he also called on politicians to set out a new vision for the place of the City in the UK, and challenged them to stop "banker bashing".

He said: "We should also remember that politicians of all stripes are content to let responsibility and opprobrium for our economic fragility rest anywhere but on their desks.

"I would remind them that the crisis from which we are emerging is not the responsibility of banks alone and I am pleased to see that some bankers are now making this point publicly, notably at Davos (during the World Economic Forum) last week."

He added: "I am challenging each of Britain's political parties to commit publicly to a long-term vision for the City: a City supported by Government policies directed at maintaining an environment of

predictability, stability and clarity."

Lord Mayor Anstee said his worry was that as the politicians vied to "dream up ever-increasing penalties for the sector which produces much of the UK's wealth", it may make international banks wonder whether it was worth staying in London.

But he added that he thought the advantages of being in the UK capital, were so powerful that any major move away from London would be fraught with difficulty.

He said there was also a challenge for bankers, both domestic and international, to think strategically and engage with Europe and influence the G20 debate to find a way out of the sector's current "unproductive relationship" with central government.

He said: "Our goal is shared. Our goal is simple. Whether we are responsible for the past or not, we must all work together to restore trust with the people and investors and so add lustre and value to London as the world's leading international finance centre."