Moves by governments and regulatorsto shore up banking systems and -financial markets risked a push towards financial protectionism, the like of which had not been seen since before the second world war, a leading group of bankers warned yesterday.

The bankers, who included senior officials at Deutsche Bank, JPMorgan, Spain's BBVA and Sweden's SEB, said they supported "far-reaching" regulatory reforms including changes to pay practices across banks and tougher capital requirements.