A number of London-based banks have threatened to terminate hundreds of information technology contractors if they refuse to accept hefty pay cuts, according to the Hack In The Box website.

Banks including Deutsche Bank, Barclays Capital, BNP Paribas and Merrill Lynch have told their IT contractors to work for up to 11 per cent less pay or lose their jobs, the website said.

The website quoted a spokesperson for Merrill Lynch saying it blamed the policy on the “difficult environment” in the financial markets, and that the market pressures had forced the bank to “reduce costs across the firm.”