Trade minister Lord Green faces conflict of interest questions over banking role

Trade minister and former HSBC chairman Lord Green is facing conflict of interest questions over his role in key decisions later this year concerning the break up of high-street banks. Photograph: Dominic Lipinski/PA

Trade minister Lord Green faces calls to step aside from a cabinet committee when it considers whether to break up Britain's high street banks.

As talks between the banks and the government over a pact on lending and on bonuses edge towards a conclusion, Labour MP Chuka Umunna has questioned whether Green should be involved in the key decision in the autumn about the future shape of the banking industry.

Green was chairman of HSBC, Britain's biggest bank, until December, which has made Umunna concerned that the new trade minister is facing a conflict of interest. Umunna raised the subject at the Treasury select committee last week and has this weekend written to cabinet secretary Sir Gus O'Donnell to demand clarity.

In the letter, Umunna said: "It is important that government makes decisions relating to the future of our banking system in the national interest and not in the interests of any particular interest group."

He continued: "I would respectfully suggest that to avoid any perceived or actual conflict of interest between his ministerial office and long association with HSBC, the proper course would be for Lord Green to remove himself from playing any part in the decision-making processes relating to the government's response to the