France’s bonus tsar on Thursday said that traders’ bonuses were a largely symbolic issue for G20 leaders, and that in terms of money they were the “least important” item on the agenda.

Michel Camdessus, the former head of the International Monetary Fund, said: “If you look at this issue of remuneration in the global agenda of the G20, it is certainly – in terms of cash, money – the least important of all issues on the table.”