“Robert Jenkins, a former member of the Bank of England’s Financial Policy Committee, said banks have wrongly convinced government that measures to improve the safety of the financial system will curb growth.

“’I fear that the banks have bamboozled government into believing that society must choose between safety and growth, between safer banks and bank shareholder value, and between a safer financial framework and a competitive City of London,’ Jenkins said in an interview. ‘These are all false choices.’

“His remarks echo criticism last month by former BOE Governor Mervyn King of lobbying by the banking industry for weaker regulation. Parliament’s Treasury Committee has since called for Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne to give assurances that banking regulators will be independent.

“Jenkins, 62, joined the FPC in 2011, when it operated on an interim basis while the government overhauled financial regulation. He became known as one of the more outspoken members, accusing banks of lobbying “dishonestly” on the impact of new capital rules and calling for 10-year deferrals on bonuses. Osborne didn’t renew his appointment when the FPC’s powers were made official this year.”

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Read full Bloomberg article here