Lloyds Share News (LLOY)

Britain's big banks are to lend about £190bn to businesses this year in a deal announced by the government today.Under 'Project Merlin', which was conjured up by chancellor George Osborne, £76bn of this sum will be made available to small businesses. Banks have been under heavy pressure to make more funds available to funds since the economic crisis erupted in 2008.'Project Merlin', which has been signed up to by the 'big four' banks, HSBC, Barclays, Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds Banking Group, will also force them to reveal salaries of top executives. The banks have agreed that bonuses this year will be lower than in 2010. Lloyds and RBS have repeated a commitment last year that the cash element of any bonus will not exceed £2000.Osborne said that all executive directors have agreed that bonuses this year will be in the form of shares that vest in 2013 rather than cash.Banks have also agreed to stump up £200bn of capital for David Cameron's 'Big Society' bank. "The anger at the terrible mistakes of the banking industry and the failure of those who regulated it will long remain, and rightly so," Osborne said in a speech to Parliament."But let us as a country confront this hard truth - anger and retribution will not bring one percentage point of growth or create one job."