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Wednesday, June 8

Business secretary Vince Cable has warned banks could see higher taxes if lending to small-to-medium-sized enterprises does not increase.


Mr Cable told MPs there was a "serious problem" with lending to businesses.
"The Chancellor and Prime Minister have made it clear that if we don't get results, they have said we should take further action with tax on banks," he told the Business Innovation and Skills Committee.
The bosses of Barclays, HSBC, Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) and Lloyds Banking are facing the Treasury Select Committee amid pressure for a new tax on bankers' bonuses.
RBS boss Stephen Hester has admitted 'some taxpayers' money' paid bankers' bonuses this year.
He was responding to questions from the Treasury Select Committee over the failure of banks to hit lending targets agreed earlier this year.
He added that the Independent Commission on Banking's key proposal to ring-fence UK lenders' retail banking arms from their investment banks could increase systemic risk.
Mr Hester said: "I believe that creating a ring-fence increases somewhat the systemic risk and decreases the ability of banks to withstand the risk."
He added that the idea that banks are too big is a 'red herring'.
It is the first opportunity for MPs to grill them on why Bank of England figures show leading banks have missed targets for lending to small firms.
Earlier, Vince Cable told MPs there was a "serious problem" with lending to businesses.
"The Chancellor and Prime Minister have made it clear that if we don't get results, they have said we should take further action with tax on banks," he told the Business Innovation and Skills Committee.

Bob Diamond, Barclays; Antonio Horta-Osorio, Lloyds; Douglas Flint, HSBC; Stephen Hester, RBS;
The four signed up earlier this year to the Government's Project Merlin agreement to provide more credit for busioess.
The committee meetings come amid calls from shadow chancellor Ed Balls for a new £2bn tax on bankers' bonuses.
Stephen Hester and Bob Diamond, the respective chief executives of RBS and Barclays, will be among the quartet quizzed about sweeping changes proposed for their industry.
They are expected to tell the committee this afternoon that reforms suggested in the Independent Commission on Banking's (ICB) interim report will make banking more expensive for customers.
Taxpayer-owned Royal Bank of Scotland recently warned it would have to work "hard" to mitigate the additional costs of the proposed changes.
The ICB, which will publish its full report in September, wants greater separation between the retail operations of the banks and their investment arms, but it has stopped short of recommending splitting the banks up.
The Government commissioned the ICB report to review ways of avoiding "too big to fail" banks sparking another credit crisis, after the multi-billion pound taxpayer-funded rescues of both Lloyds and Royal Bank of Scotland.
One of the chiefs, Antonio Horta-Osorio, the new boss of Lloyds, has already criticised the ICB's recommendation that a planned sale of 620 branches to meet European Union state aid rules be increased to help boost UK competition.
The bankers may also be quizzed on their decision to cave in on the issue of payment protection insurance.

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