Bloomberg reports that Barclays Capital and Nomura, both of which have navigated the financial crisis without having to resort to state aid, are hiring 'hundreds' of staff from rivals who are hampered by bonus constraints imposed by national governments.

The news agency quotes Shaun Springer, CEO of Square Miles Services Ltd, who says: 'Banks that haven't been bailed out by the government are in a very good position to hire the most talented bankers. They're paying rates that state-funded banks are being pressured into not paying'.

And Deutsche Bank CEO Josef Ackermann is said to have told his staff that his blueprint for further success includes boosting profitability over at the corporate and investment bank (particularly in Asia), and beefing up consumer lending and asset and wealth management.

And Reuters reports that Royal Bank of Scotland posted a third-quarter loss of $2.5bn, and CEO Stephen Hester has warned that it will be a year before the bank starts making money again. The news agency also reports that Societe Generale has now bought back all the preference shares that were taken by the French government in exchange for the provision of state aid. The buy-back was mostly financed from the bank's recent $7.14bn rights issue.

Finally, The Daily Telegraph says that a report commissioned by the European Parliament describes the EU plans to regulate hedge funds are 'vague, sweeping and inadequate'.

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