LONDON, Nov 15 (Reuters) - The British Bankers' Association on Monday dismissed a report by the BBC that it was hosting talks among Britain's biggest banks over a cut to their collective bonus pot.
The bonus pool at UK banks could drop from 7 billion pounds ($11.28 billion) to 4 billion pounds as a result of pay negotiations, with banks debating whether to issue a joint statement, according to the BBC report.
However, the BBA said the mooted talks over these measures were not happening under its auspices.
"It's difficult to say we haven't had any talks about bonuses as they have come up in discussions about the FSA (Financial Services Authority) and the CRD (the EU's Capital Requirements Directive), but we categorically haven't had talks about this specific issue," said a spokeswoman for the BBA.
The spokeswoman added she had no knowledge of whether banks had been independently discussing a reduction to their bonuses, adding she had "no recognition" of the numbers being reported.
UK banks have come under intense pressure from politicians and regulators in the last two years to curb excessive bonuses.
The City watchdog, the FSA, is introducing a revised code on remuneration in January, which means bonuses will be locked away for a number of years and mostly paid in shares, not cash.
That will apply to pay packages struck within the 2010 remuneration round.
Without commenting directly on reports of a bonus reduction deal among UK banks, Prime Minister David Cameron's spokesman said on Monday that FSA rules were in place to ensure remuneration did not reward short-term risk taking.
"It's not for government to set pay for individual companies, that's a matter for those companies and for their boards, but as a general statement remuneration should reflect long-term value creation," he said. ($1=.6207 Pound) (Reporting by Sarah White, additional reporting by Estelle Shirbon; Editing by Jon Loades-Carter)