City regulators have dramatically stepped up the number of people they veto for senior City jobs and yesterday rebuked banks for putting up unsuitable candidates.

Eighteen out of 172 candidates for City directorships and other senior bank jobs have been rejected in the past year by the Financial Services Authority, it said yesterday.

Two months ago, only nine had been vetoed by the regulator as part of its self-styled, more intrusive supervisory approach. The FSA wrote to the chief executives of all City firms yesterday urging them to be more discerning in weeding out unsuitable candidates.

Graeme Ashley-Fenn, FSA director of permissions, decisions and reporting, said: “There is considerable scope for some firms to be more robust in their own recruitment processes.”

He warned that appointments could be delayed if firms failed to conduct proper early assessment of candidates’ suitability.

Candidates for senior bank jobs and for positions where they are able to risk considerable sums of bank capital, such as proprietary traders, are now questioned for 90 minutes in FSA interviews.

Those deemed unqualified or unsuitable are warned off continuing their applications by the FSA’s Regulatory Transactions Committee.

The FSA said it expected candidates to demonstrate their understanding of the inherent risks faced by their employers and to articulate plans to mitigate that risk.

It also warned companies against sending minders to accompany candidates going for FSA interview, saying it would not normally expect candidates to be accompanied.

Firms were cautioned against confronting the FSA with a single final choice and urged to start talking to the FSA at the shortlist stage.

Johnny Cameron, the former head of investment banking at Royal Bank of Scotland, was deterred from joining the corporate finance boutique Greenhill after FSA intervention.

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