Banks that have reverted to paying staff guaranteed bonuses are an “absolute disgrace” and should be reined in by governments at the Group of 20 summit in September, according to France's finance minister.

In what she described as a cri de coeur against the return of “the old ways” driven by excess, Christine Lagarde urged other G20 governments to stop “procrastinating” and introduce curbs on pay practices deemed to encourage risk-taking.

“I think it is an absolute disgrace that guaranteed bonuses of several years could still be paid, or that some people are thinking of reinstating the old ways of compensating with insufficient relationship between compensation and lasting performance and risk management,” Ms Lagarde said in an interview with the Financial Times.