US levy ''good news for banking jobs in London''

The decision by the US government to introduce a tax on bankers will boost the market for finance jobs in London, it has been suggested.

US president Barack Obama''s plan to levy billions from Wall Street to recoup money paid out by the government to support it through the crisis will help to "restore parity" to the industry, Agence France-Presse reports.

It follows a move by the British government to tax bankers'' bonuses by 50 per cent until April this year and the British Bankers'' Association has welcomed the US policy.

The organisation''s chief executive Angela Knight told the news source: "The US has moved up to the playing field that we are already on."

However, she also suggested that the tax in Britain could persuade some people to seek banking jobs in Singapore and other destinations.

According to the Telegraph, hedge fund Tosca has predicted that 100,000 new finance jobs will be created during the next ten years in London.