Vince Cable could break ranks to expose City's top earners

Vince Cable is drawing up his own plans to demand more disclosure on bankers' pay even though the Treasury is backing away from forcing banks to reveal how many millionaires they create each year. The business secretary is considering ways to shine more light on how bankers are paid as bosses prepare to meet him and the chancellor, George Osborne. A showdown scheduled for today was postponed as the chancellor's return from New York was thrown into confusion by the snow but will take place at lunchtime tomorrow when the bosses from Royal Bank of Scotland, Barclays, HSBC and Lloyds are expected to pledge to lend up to £200bn to small businesses. The bankers are also expected to ask Cable and Osborne to define what ministers regard as an "unacceptable bonus". Cable believes that disclosure on bankers' pay is one of the crucial goals for the coalition. He is understood to be prepared to use his existing consultation on the "long-term focus for corporate Britain" to force banks to provide information about the way they pay their staff. Cable spent the weekend stepping up calls for restraint on bonuses and leaving expectations that a fresh tax could be slapped on banks. Mark Hoban, the City minister, remained cool about a new bonus tax – as unveiled by Alistair Darling last December – but kept up the rhetoric. "We want to see banks demonstrating restraint and the ball is very much in the banks' court," he said. Cable has made it clear that he advocates more disclosure and that he wants to push through the proposals first outlined by Sir David Walker in his report for the Labour government. Walker's vision was that bankers would not need to be named – unless they sat on the board – but that any pay over £1m should be made public. While Labour drew up legislation to require remuneration above £500,000 to be published, the coalition has failed to press ahead with the rule changes, despite pledging to crack down on "unacceptable bonuses". Osborne and David Cameron have said agreement must be reached across Europe before disclosure rules can be tightened. But Cable is thought to be convinced that more information can only be helpful in locating the highest-paid staff. A source close to the business secretary said: "Vince believes you've got to start shining a light on what's actually going on at the top of the leading banking institutions. He's very committed to having tougher disclosure, not just for banks but for other corporates, and is confident that the government will move on this." Cable is understood to be prepared to examine a number of options to try to force more information out of banks about how they pay their staff. But as the consultation on corporate Britain ends next month, any changes are unlikely to be implemented in time for this year's bonus round. Cable is not only targeting the banking sector. Companies currently have to provide information only about pay deals inside the boardroom, as this is where the highest earners have in the past been found. In banking, however, many of the highest-paid staff are outside the boardroom, in dealing rooms, and without more disclosure it may never be known if a similar situation applies at other companies. Establishing how bankers are paid has become a key issue since the banking crisis. RBS's former chief executive, Sir Fred Goodwin, admitted that in excess of 200 of its bankers earned more than him before the bank was rescued by the taxpayer. Under rules in Hong Kong, where it is headquartered, HSBC is required to provide pay details of its five highest staff – without naming them. Cable has been considering whether to impose industry-wide targets on lending to small businesses. The bailed-out RBS and Lloyds have targets that expire in March, while Barclays and other banks made voluntary commitments to Labour for 2009. Such voluntary commitments are now being considered by bankers again in an attempt to head off formal targets. The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills said: "The business secretary has said previously that drawing up lending agreements with all the major banks – not just the part-nationalised ones – was an option if the lending environment doesn't improve. Discussions with the banks are ongoing and no decision has been taken yet."