Shares in British banks were mixed on the FTSE 100 in morning trading after a barrage of news and reports over the weekend about the future of banks and regulation.

The Governor of the Bank of England, Mervyn King, told the Telegraph on Saturday that imbalances are starting to grow in the banking system once again and that regulation is needed to prevent another crisis.

Meanwhile the Guardian newspaper reported that Liberal Democrats on the Treasury Committee are pushing for a plan that would see the government's shares in Lloyds Banking Group and RBS distributed to the public.

In yet more news on banks, HSBC, which did not need a bailout, has been making increasingly bold statements about the possibility of it moving its domicile from London to Hong Kong. Mayor of London Boris Johnson, who has made it his policy to defend rather than bash bankers, came out yesterday saying he would do his best to ensure that HSBC remained in Britain.

By 10:20 shares in Lloyds Banking Group were down 0.48 per cent to 61.82 pence per share and RBS shares declined 0.27 per cent to 43.94 pence per share.

However Barclays shares increased 0.32 per cent to 314.10 pence per share and HSBC shares rose 1.41 per cent to 661.70 pence per share.

Overall the FTSE 100 was up 0.32 per cent to 6,009.51.

Barclays HSBC FTSE Bank of England