The attempt of some big British banks (Barclays, Royal Bank of Scotland, HSBC, Lloyds and Santander UK) to reach a ceasefire with the UK government looks likely to fail. The aim of the talks, called “Project Merlin”, is on the one hand, to convince the government not to levy new taxes on bonuses and, on the other hand, to show the public that banks are really making an effort to shoulder their part of the burden.
