The structure and scale of bankers' bonuses will be taken into account by regulators when they assess banks' exposure to financial risk.

Hector Sants, chief executive of the Financial Services Authority, told a City dinner last night that while the regulator would not dictate pay levels, it would consider the implications of remuneration structures when judging the overall risk of individual institutions. "We will do this with increasing intensity," he told the Investment Managers' Association.