London mayor says EU bank bonus cap helps New York, Singapore

LONDON Feb 28 (Reuters) - London Mayor Boris Johnson lashed out at a European Union cap on bankers' bonuses on Thursday, warning that the move will shunt banking business towards Zurich, Singapore and New York.

Bankers in Europe face a cap on bonuses as early as next year, following a provisional agreement in Brussels to introduce what would be the world's strictest pay curbs.

"People will wonder why we stay in the EU if it persists in such transparently self-defeating policies," Johnson said in a statement. "Brussels cannot control the global market for banking talent, Brussels cannot set pay for bankers around the world."

"The most this measure can hope to achieve is a boost for Zurich and Singapore and New York at the expense of a struggling EU. This is possibly the most deluded measure to come from Europe since Diocletian tried to fix the price of groceries across the Roman empire."