The American bank Citi is set to ditch the bonus cap for hundreds of its London investment bankers after the last Conservative government got rid of EU-imposed pay curbs in a post-Brexit decision last year.

Citi’s move comes days after Barclays told staff it would be scrapping the cap, which was imposed by Brussels after the financial crisis in the hope of curbing excessive risk-taking. UK employees of the bank have been eager for news on its stance after JP Morgan and Goldman Sachs opted to remove their bonus limits.

Introduced in 2014, the cap restricted bonuses to one times salary, or double if shareholders have given their approval. It does not apply to all staff — mainly to those who are deemed to be taking risks for the banks.

Although meant to restrict pay, the cap had been blamed for actually pushing up the salaries of some bankers, as employers simply replaced the bonus element of their staff’s pay with higher fixed earnings instead.

• Barclays bankers set to earn ten times fixed pay after bonus cap ends

Britain’s financial regulators were concerned that this made it harder for banks to control their costs during downturns and to “claw back” pay when errors were made.

George Osborne, who was chancellor when the cap was introduced by the EU, had lobbied against it being introduced, but it was Kwasi Kwarteng, during his brief tenure in the role during Liz Truss’s short-lived government, who first set out plans for it to be abandoned.

In May, Goldman Sachs became the first bank to implement plans to scrap the cap, warning staff that it would be reducing their fixed pay as it was now able to award a higher multiple in bonuses. JP Morgan has told its staff that bonuses could now be up to ten times their salaries — the same stance that has been taken by Barclays. Morgan Stanley has not revealed how it has changed its approach.

Richard Gnodde, head of Goldman’s international operations, had complained that the cap meant moving staff between New York and London drove up the firm’s costs. He argued that scrapping it would make the City a more attractive location for financial firms.

Britain’s banks had to put their intention to end the cap to a vote at this year’s annual general meetings. HSBC won approval to remove the cap but has not yet disclosed what this will mean in practice.

Citi declined to comment.