Some of the biggest overseas banks with operations in the UK have agreed to stick to tougher rules on pay and bonuses.

The announcement came after City minister Lord Myners held a series of meetings with international banks as part of efforts to prevent a return to the excessive bonus culture prevalent before the financial crisis.

Lord Myners said they had confirmed their commitment to the G20 agreement on pay and the Financial Services Authority rules and supporting code on remuneration practices.

The banks signing up to the deal included Goldman Sachs, Bank of America, Merrill Lynch, Citigroup, Morgan Stanley and JP Morgan from the US, Credit Suisse and UBS from Switzerland and Japanese bank Nomura.

In a joint statement, the banks said: "In a competitive and global business, banking remuneration must be consistent with effective risk management and there must be national and international consistency on this issue. We welcome the global nature of the G20 remuneration reforms and will work with the FSA and regulators in our home countries in adopting the reforms, recognising that all G20 nations have also committed to their implementation to ensure a level playing field."

Other financial institutions with large London operations including BNP Paribas and Deutsche Bank pledged to implement the G20 agreement in accordance with their home regulators but would "seek to voluntarily comply" with the FSA rules for their UK-based employees.

JP Morgan Chase yesterday kicked off the third quarter bank reporting season with a bigger-than-expected surge in profits.

JP Morgan - the largest US bank - posted a forecast-beating $3.6bn (£2.3bn) in net income for the three months to September, up from $527m dollars (£330m) a year earlier.

The group is the first of the US banks out of the stalls with quarterly figures, but it is expected to be followed by similar bumper earnings from rivals.