Shares in British banks were down on the FTSE 100 in morning trading despite assurances that banks would not be hit by a capital surcharge.

Yesterday Adair Turner, Chairman of the Financial Services Authority, told the Eurofi conference on financial regulation in Europe that capital surcharges are not expected to be imposed on large banks in the developed world.

In other news Barclays appointed ten new managing directors for the prime services business of its investment arm, while HSBC said that it was not intending to move its HQ out of London.

By 10:00 shares in Lloyds Banking Group were down 0.89 per cent to 74.58 pence per share, RBS shares declined 1.93 per cent to 47.12 pence per share, Barclays shares dropped 0.86 per cent to 306.40 pence per share while HSBC shares fell 1.89 per cent to 647.00 pence per share.

Overall the FTSE 100 was down 0.5 per cent to 5,550.21.

Barclays HSBC FTSE