The British Chancellor of the Exchequer, Alistair Darling has called for a global deal to insure against the possibility of banking failure in future. He said on Tuesday that the deal should be as an added measure to the checks already put in place in various countries.

A levy on banks to cover the implicit insurance they receive from the taxpayer, could be among the issues discussed when the finance ministry officials from around the world meet in London next week.

Many have warned that banks would leave London with the new levy of 50% on bonus, however the Chancellor dismissed these fears and said that the levy would be only for one year.

"London is still a good place to do business, and it's important that it remains a good place to do business," he said while speaking to news paper.

He said the measures designed to prevent a repeat of the global financial crisis should not affect the image of London or the business environment in the city.

Darling expressed concerns that some banks are yet to report toxic assets outside Britain in their balance sheets. He said he would not prefer a backward-looking levy to recover the costs of bailouts.

The chancellor indicated that the country had already designed measures to earn back the amount it spent on saving the financial institutions. The International Monetary Fund is expected to report to world finance ministers in April about the possible measures to be implemented.

Britain is expected to come out of recession when growth data for the fourth quarter of 2009 are released next week. However the chancellor said that his officials have estimated that to reverse a £178bn deficit, a cut by 17 per cent in the next four years has to be made on spending in many areas.

The chancellor has tried to convince the Prime Minister Gordon Brown to review his stance on spending cuts.